Another Day
by VashiMiku
Summary: Another routine day in the life of Morty, leader of Ecruteak Gym, leads to events that shake up his world.  Originally a one shot, it's been expanded to include some SacredShipping and upcoming HonorShipping.  Some noncon.
1. Chapter 1

"Another day," smiling to himself, the gym leader of Ecruteak City exited the gym for the evening and turned to lock up the doors, being that he was the last one to go. The gym's trainers had all left an hour ago, but Morty had stayed behind and taken a walk through his gym, admiring the beautiful yet haunting atmosphere that the special effects had created. All of it was his design, on which he prided himself. People remembered his gym right down to the last detail and they often talked of the trainers with the crowns of candles on their head. Such beautiful uniqueness, he loved it to a point where he sometimes didn't want to leave, but now it was time for dinner.

He walked home alone, as he often did, pulling his purple scarf with its tattered, red splattered tip a bit tighter around his long neck. The night was a bit nippy with the scent of autumn leaves floating on the breeze, which was oddly strong. At this hour, no one was around—Morty always left the gym and went home for his dinner at a time when most were preparing to settle into bed. This suited him, walking alone in the dark, most especially on nights such as this one. The wind was whistling through the trees and ruffling his short blonde hair playfully. In order to keep his ears warm, he pulled his dark purple headband down a bit more to cover the tips.

The rest of him, clad in a dark purple sweater and crisp white trousers, stayed fairly warm as he strolled along with his hands tucked into his pockets and his shoulders raised. A sudden chill down his spine did not bother him at all. In fact, it made him smile, and the expression widened as his shadow shifted to reveal two dark purple ears.

"Gengar," the young gym leader spoke softly.

"Gengar," a sort of menacing voice repeated. But its owner was actually a very docile creature with a perpetual smile spread across his face beneath his blood red eyes.

"Gengar," a second, similar voice repeated, and before he knew it, Morty had two of the creatures attached to either of his legs.

"I can't walk like this!" His eyes shined with pure affection for the two Pokemon, even though they did hinder his progress home. Stomach growling or not, he would always stop whatever he was doing to show them love. Thus, he knelt and his hands settled on both heads to rub them affectionately.

Grinning widely, both playful creatures held on tightly to their master with their eyes squeezed shut. Most found the final evolution of the Gastly line to be scary, but Morty never could. If he would ever use the word "cute" to describe anything, it would be his Gengars. Telling them apart might have also seemed impossible, but he always knew which one was which. One was slightly taller than the other—he was the eldest. The smaller Gengar was actually still growing and had only evolved recently. Both made him proud. They were his children, his babies. All of his Pokemon were.

"Let's get you both home," at length, he spoke softly to the two of them.

Home was actually a rather empty place, or so it would be without his Pokemon, that is. His house was small and without electricity, but he never thought to complain on it, feeling that he had all that was needed.

As soon as he stepped inside, he turned to his left and lit a candle that rested in the taper holder on a small table against the wall. The dim light illuminated a room that was pretty much bare of all things save for a worn couch of dark blue, an old yet comfortable rug, and a low rectangular table with cushions gathered around it. In the far off corner, illuminated by the candle as he approached, he had two beanbags chairs next to a shelf covered in scrolls and housing a single pot of ink and a jar of clean brushes. There was another table here as well, which was home to an oil lamp, which Morty lit to add more light. Now everything was fairly visible, though even the walls held very little to look at in the way of any decoration. A katana was mounted over the couch, and against the wall just before the door to his bedroom, there was a scroll depicting a young man in a kimono with an outstretched hand held to a Gastly. That was his only true luxury, which had been painted after a description from his memory. Photographs of him didn't exist. His mother had made sure of that.

Morty's bedroom was just as barren as his living room, more so, in fact. All that there was to see in there was his futon, a full length mirror, and a closet. He didn't spend much time in there, and so the lack of things did not bother him. There wasn't even a need to decorate. As for the rest of his house, he had an equally bare bathroom with an old clawfoot tub, and then there was the kitchen, which is where he headed with his candle. Another oil lamp rested on a square table against the far wall, and so he lit this first, followed by another on the counter near the sink. His stove was a huge, old fashioned thing that burned wood that he chucked in by the armful. The refrigerator was more so a chest that kept things cold by means of a giant block of ice delivered to him once a week.

The dark ages— that's what his friends would say he lived in, but he didn't care. He was happy to be on his own in his supposedly creepy house. He didn't even need the oil lamps, not really. Once they all realized he was home, dozens of the purple, orb like Gastly began flying around the place, their natural light brightening up the place better than any artificial light could.

"It's good to be home," the blonde smiled as he watched them float about and play together.

Seeing as how he didn't really need it, Morty didn't mind it at all when his Gengars made off with his scarf and wrapped themselves together in it. It was warm, which was something that they actually liked. Smiling at them, the Ecruteakian gym leader began to stir a large, cast iron pot that he had left on the stove with a long wooden spoon. The scent of his stew filled the air, which made his stomach growl again.

"What a long day today, especially since I forgot about lunch," he sighed a bit, knowing that it happened often. He was usually too busy with challenges or dealing with the day to day of running the gym. The trainers under him still needed mentoring, and there were always new ones coming along, hoping for a spot in his gym. Yes, he was entirely busy, but he loved it, as exhausting as it all was.

As he continued to stir, he felt a breeze and then a Haunter appeared, holding out a bowl to him. "Oh thank you, Haunter," he smiled as he took it. That bowl was not for the Pokemon, of course. This was just something that the creatures in Morty's house did- they took care of their master and helped him. There was his Mismagius now with a spoon on his head. "And you, Mismagius," the gym leader smiled to the catlike, creature.

Now ravenous, the tall young man served himself a bowl of the stew he had made and then sat down to eat, while his Pokemon helped themselves to the berries that were always easily accessible to them in tins around the kitchen. None of them ever over ate. They liked to eat when he did, like a real family.

To some, this life may have been depressing—a young man of 21 living alone in the dark with a bunch of ghosts. He did love his life and the sense of stability that it held. Every now and then, however, he would find himself longing for something more. Tonight was one of those nights. Smile, though he did, he couldn't help but feel that something was missing. He was reflecting on this when suddenly, he heard his front door open with a loud slam and felt a rush of air as the wind invited itself in along with the unannounced guest.

"Could it be?" Pushing himself from the table, Morty ran to his living room and fought back the urge to squeal at the sight before him.

"Morty!" Arms clad in a purple suit and draped by a white cape were held out to him. Morty's eyes widened with surprise as he reached out for the white gloved hands and was pulled into a brotherly embrace by this man.

"Eusine," his voice held joy and something very close to gratitude. It would not be uncharacteristic of him to be grateful for this visit. It so rarely happened, though he often lay in bed longing for it.

Morty had been nothing more than a thirteen year old runaway with no place to go when he had first met this man. Eusine, who had actually been the gym leader at the time, had taken Morty in and had helped him to deal with a very unruly little Gastly, the same that was depicted on the scroll and the one who had grown to be the tallest of the Gengars snuggled within that scarf.

Speaking of those Pokemon, all of them had gone quiet and now they were staring at who they referred to amongst themselves as "Minaki-sama". For the briefest of times, the eldest Gengar had even been one of Minaki-sama's Pokemon after the two trainers had accidentally mixed up their Pokeballs. Eusine had deemed himself too busy to return Morty's then Haunter to him. Since then, the Gengar had refused Pokeballs, which didn't bother Morty at all. He loved it when his Pokemon were free to play, which they should have been. Why were they so quiet?

"What's wrong, Mismagius?" The little cat-witch was now beginning to act clingy, hovering very close to Morty. He was never like that.

"Ah, there's nothing wrong with that Mismagius!" Waving his hand, Eusine went over to Morty's couch and flopped down, crossing his legs as he slumped. "Shut that door. The wind is going crazy out there."

"Oh yea," Morty beamed at Eusine as he pushed it closed. "I was going to say 'Look what the wind blew in'. I guess I was too stunned to see you."

"Well it's a good thing you didn't," Eusine smirked.

"Hm, yea," Morty laughed a little bit, though he felt slightly hurt. He thought the little pun was funny. Maybe it wasn't? Eusine was by far the worldlier of the two. Thus, he was an authority on things like this in the gym leader's mind. "I was just eating."

A pair of baby blue eyes, with their true color hidden behind purple contact lenses, searched Eusine's handsome face as if desperately seeking approval for this action.

"Go on," the other man waved his gloved hand, and only then did Morty move towards the kitchen.

Once in there, however, he did not retrieve his food right away. Instead, he leaned against a wall hidden away from the entrance and sighed. Eusine was finally back! But why were his Pokemon acting so weird? The two Gengars had been snuggled together in the scarf, singing their name with each other, but now they were silent. The Gastly were still floating around, but they had stopped their giggling in favor of either staring or avoiding that room entirely. Haunter was at the kitchen table now, picking up Morty's bowl, which he held out towards his master as if to say "eat". Nodding, Morty took it and scooped a spoonful into his mouth, not really tasting what he was eating. Instead of paying attention to it, he watched as Mismagius landed on the table and stood there staring as if asking what to do. Why was he being clingy?

Eating fast, Morty finished the stew in record time and started for the sink, only to feel a tug on his pants leg. "Hm?" Looking down, he saw a little bipedal Pokemon with huge gems for eyes. Smiling, he picked up that Sableye and carried him along towards the sink, where he deposited the bowl. Then he returned to the living room and put down the now squirming Pokemon.

"Everyone is acting so weird tonight," Morty sighed as he sat next to his best friend, who had shut his eyes.

"Maybe they forgot who I am," Eusine shrugged. "It has been a year."

"Yea, a whole year, Eusine," Morty sighed. "I was beginning to think you forgot me."

He hadn't meant to be so open with his feelings. The words had just come tumbling out like junk from an over filled closet. Really, was it bad to miss a friend that he hadn't heard from in so long? Perhaps so, considering the fact that he did know the nature of Eusine's absences—Suicune.

"Morty, I was so close this time. Suicune was right there," holding out his hand, the eccentric man squeezed it into a fist and then opened it again before running it over his slicked brown hair.

This close, Morty couldn't help but admire how handsome his old friend was. He was always so sharply dressed in his purple suit and red bow tie. Really, he looked as though he should be giving a performance—perhaps a magic trick or two— anything but rolling around in Suicune waste or trekking through forests in search of the legendary dog Pokemon. But this is what Eusine did, anyway. He was an expert on it. It, not he or she—legendaries didn't have a gender. Eusine had taught Morty that.

Wasn't it enough that he had seen Suicune once? Morty wanted to ask, even though he knew the answer to that. No, a sighting was never enough. His best friend wanted to capture and own the legendary Pokemon, such was his obsession. He had always been possessive.

"I have faith in you, Eusine. Someday, you will find Suicune," the blonde smiled.

The room fell silent as Eusine's harsh green eyes seemed to glare into Morty's soul. Only when the other smiled did the gym leader release a breath that he hadn't even realized he had been holding.

"You've always been my biggest supporter, even when others say I'm crazy."

"Well, I'm always here for you, Eusine. Waiting. You know that."

"Yea, I do," Eusine's tone was dark, sending a chill up Morty's spine as he was once again stared at. Shifting his body, he started to cross his legs, but the action was caught off as suddenly Eusine's lips were on his.

"Hnnf," Morty made an awkward noise as he was pushed backwards by his best friend's body covering his own. By this he was neither bewildered nor confused. In fact, he had been wondering when it was going to happen. With that said, there is really very little need to mention that it always did.

His heart raced and his flesh filled with goosebumps as it was exposed to the cool air of the house, his sweater being lifted by Eusine's roaming hands. There was now a warm tongue in his mouth, thrashing and flailing. Whenever Morty's tongue got in the way, it was roughly shoved aside. Rarely was he allowed to put his tongue into Eusine's mouth.

And speaking of that mouth, it withdrew from his as Eusine's head lowered. Closing his eyes, the recipient of this treatment moaned as a warm tongue swept over his nipples and a straying hand settled between his legs, rubbing at the beginnings of a hard on and encouraging it to grow.

"Eusine, why?" the blonde squirmed under this treatment. Part of him wanted it to stop, but his body had needs that were now being fulfilled. Thus, a larger part of him refused to fight back.

The other man slid up the gym leader's body and bit his earlobe before whispering harshly, "Shut up, fag. You know you want it."

Oh god, he did, and it made him feel so dirty. Under Eusine's touch, he grew hard fast and started to move his lower half in a desperate attempt to relieve the pressure within his blood engorged dick. The seme felt that his uke had been properly put into his place, and so he returned to licking his nipples for a short while longer, drawing from him long, low moans and tiny little squeaks of pleasure. Foreplay was never something that Eusine was big on. Thus, it was rather soon when he slid to the floor and pulled Morty down with him.

"I'm going to fuck you so good," he breathed heavily as he fumbled to undo Morty's pants. "Get ready, you fag. I've got a year of frustration to take out on this tight little ass."

Closing his eyes as he lay on his back, Morty began thinking of excuses to avoid going to the gym. Experienced though he was with this, it had been a year since the last time he had been penetrated. Only for Eusine- that is what he had always said. But unfortunately, that sometimes meant that he ended up sore, as so long would go by without him being touched.

He was a bit nervous because he knew how Eusine loved to rough him up. There was no such thing as making love between them. No, Morty got fucked, plain and simple. Tonight was no different. His so called best friend didn't even bother with removing anything but Morty's shoes and pants. So frantic was he to begin that in his own case, he had simply undone his pants and pulled his dick out. Still, his bottom knew that it would get hot and so he made the effort to at least undo the other man's blazer, tie, and shirt.

His fingers were still clinging to Eusine's shirt when his leg was forced into a raised position and he was roughly entered with no preparation or lubrication of any kind. This was something else that he expected, and he gritted his teeth to bear with it. His lover didn't even ask how it felt. Nor did he give him time to adjust to having a dick in him after so long. Instead, he began thrusting, his face flushing as he moved closer to bite Morty's shoulder.

"Ungh, Eusine, easy please," he whimpered. "It's hurting me."

"Don't start your crying, Morty," the green eyed man snapped at him. "This isn't your first time. It won't be your last."

It wouldn't. He knew it wouldn't be, and had known since the night it had begun, eight or so years ago. His pleasure was slight now, so that he was not too distracted to remember how it had all gone- how Eusine had pinned him down with his wrists above his head and forced his way inside of a virginal hole that had never been, to his knowledge, meant for this use. He had been so innocent then, not even knowing where babies came from. In that innocence, he had readily agreed when Eusine had asked, "Do you want want to do something that feels good together?"

He had struggled and cried, "I wanna stop, I wanna stop!" But Eusine hadn't. Now that he was older, he wondered if that could have counted as rape. Maybe it did. He had certainly felt the humiliation and the fear afterwards. To this day, he sometimes had nightmares about it, but he sucked it up, telling himself he did it for his best friend. Besides, after so many times, he had started to want it. Rape victims don't want to be raped, right?

That question would go unanswered as the burning of what was occurring now became overridden by the pleasure. He didn't know the proper term for it, but Morty knew that there was something inside of him that felt like heaven when his best friend's dick rubbed against it. That was happening now and it drove him crazy, making him curl his toes and make noises like the girls that had been in those dirty movies he and Eusine had once discovered and watched together.

"Nngh, you're such a fag," Eusine moaned against him. Then, with a sudden growl, he pushed Morty on to his back and lifted both legs, roughly reentering him as their faces touched. "Say it, Morty. Tell me how you're a fag and how you like it when I fuck you."

Humliation. Why did Eusine like making him say such things? Even before he could open his mouth, a gloved hand slapped his face with an audible whack.

"Say it!"

Morty felt the hot sting of tears as he recited the words that were demanded of him, "I'm a fag and I like it when you fuck me."

"Oh, Morty," Eusine moaned as he began to thrust harder. And here Morty had thought it impossible for his asshole to be any more abused than it had been before. "Oh Morty, I love you."

"I love you too, Eusine," he whispered back, afraid to let Eusine hear that he was crying. He wouldn't notice, anyway. He never did.

"Oh Morty, I'm gonna," Eusine grunted. "I shouldn't come in you. Might get you pregnant because you're such a fucking girl."

How humiliating. Someone who loved you shouldn't say such things, should they? Morty knew the answer deep down, but he hid himself from it. Don't think of any of it, he told himself. Just focus on the pleasure. Oh god, it did feel good. His balls were tightening and he could feel his insides clamping tight as if it didn't want to let Eusine's dick go.

"Ahn, Eusine," he started to scream. "Fuck me. Fuck me, please!"

"Yeaa, I knew you liked it, fag," the man chuckled through his moans.

"Aahn, I'm coming… coming for you, EUSINE!" Digging his fingers into Eusine's shoulders, Morty screamed in both pleasure and pain as his dick shot off like a cork from a bottle of champagne that had been shaken. Semen coated his stomach and he gasped at the feeling of his insides growing suddenly warm and wet.

"Nnngh, Suicune," Eusine grunted as he lazily thrust into Morty a few more times. Then he collapsed, immediately shutting his eyes and starting to fall asleep while still on the gym leader.

"Suicune… at least you called me something you associate with love," Morty sighed.

"Shut up, Morty," the man on top grumbled.

Closing his own eyes, Morty ran his hands through his hair as he felt the tears run along the sides of his head. Now he knew why his Mismagius had gotten clingy and why the others had gone quiet or avoidant. It was Eusine. They didn't want him here. They hated what he did to their master. They hated what he let him do.

It wasn't the sex, heavens no. They all left the room for that, not really wanting to see, but they did think of it as a natural thing, though pointless. The Gastly were all too little to really get it, so whenever Eusine would visit, they would spend weeks afterward "looking for Matsuba-sama's egg". The Gengars, the Haunter, the Sableye, the hiding Drifblim and Dusknoir, and of course his Mismagius… they knew. It wasn't the sex, no. It was the tears that their master would always cry afterwards.

How he wanted their comfort now, but he was not free to move away from Eusine. His own weak will held him prisoner on the cold floor of his own house. It was not right. It was not ok. But it was his life. It was another day.


	2. Chapter 2

Four days went by before the strength of the autumnal winds waned. For those four days, Morty endured Eusine's solo company in more ways than one. A thunderstorm had raged on that second day, which gave Ecruteak's gym leader the perfect excuse to avoid going to the gym. The strong winds of the storm had knocked out the power, which meant that the special effects wouldn't work correctly, and the ferociousness of the storm itself made going even a short distance quite dangerous. Not even the bravest of trainers would go out in that—not for a fourth tier match. Perhaps fifth tier or higher trainers would consider it because they were so close. Morty's badge was only the halfway point. Nothing remarkable, Eusine had said to him when he demanded that Morty not even think of going to the gym.

Oddly, Eusine was rather at home in Morty's house, but then, if one were to consider the way he lived in the first place, they might quickly understand why he would not be fussy about what sort of roof was over his head. At least it could be said that Eusine was not some freeloader. No, he helped Morty clean and even cooked for the two of them. However, it could not be expected of the man in purple to do this without some sort of price.

"Haven't you ever heard of dusting, Morty?" On the fifth day, the visitor berated his host as he furiously worked the feather duster along the corners of the living room. "There are cobwebs everywhere."

"I like the cobwebs, though," Morty frowned slightly. He was in the kitchen, washing the dishes, but he could hear Eusine perfectly from where he was.

As usual, his Pokémon were doing their best to find ways to help him. A Gastly brought dirty plates to him one by one by clutching them in his fangs, his Haunter brought the bowls, and his youngest Gengar was actually doing an excellent job of drying the dishes that Morty had washed already.

"Grow up, Morty," Eusine called back. Morty didn't even have to see him to know that he had rolled his eyes. He also knew what was coming. "Bad enough I let you turn the gym into some kind of weird Haunted House. You don't have to /live/ like every day is Halloween."

Yup. That was what Eusine always said. Often times, the blonde young man wondered if he could ever do anything right by his friend, seeing as how he was always being scolded or picked on for one thing or another. People loved the gym. Morty loved the gym. Why couldn't Eusine love it too?

"You battle just fine without all of the gimmicks, you know," the lecture went on.

To anyone with a heart, the reaction to those words would have been absolutely endearing. Until they had been spoken, Morty had resigned to staring at the dishwater, his eyes beginning to turn slightly watery. But now, as he looked up and towards the doorway leading into the living room, they shimmered brightly as a smile burst to life upon his face.

"Thanks, Eusine. That means so much coming from you!"

"Ah, cut it out. Don't get sentimental on me, Morty." Coming into the kitchen now, Eusine ditched the feather duster on the table and put his arms around the blond from behind, his hand immediately going for his crotch.

"Hnnngh," Morty closed his eyes and continued to smile as the most sensitive part of him was rubbed. Truthfully, he was a little sore, as Eusine had been on him like a dog in heat over the past couple of days. Still, he could not stop himself from wanting more every time he was touched.

His Pokémon knew what was going to happen, and so they fled the area, as they always did. The last to go was a Gastly with a plate in his mouth. He didn't even want to go near Eusine long enough to put it in the sink. Not that the green eyed man cared or even noticed. He had Morty's pants undone swiftly, and even faster than that, he had them around his ankles.

"Mmm, Eusine, there's the festival," Morty moaned as felt fingers began to probe around inside of him.

"I'll make it quick," Eusine whispered into Morty's ear.

He didn't have any further protests, but that had never mattered. His legs were spread and he was bent towards the counter. Then pain and pleasure spread from his entrance and caused his legs to tremble as Eusine claimed him.

Still gripping the sponge that he had been cleaning with, he moaned loudly and bit into his lips. His muscles were aching from so much abuse. Yet, he could still find pleasure in being bludgeoned over and over again by his sometimes lover.

Grabbing Morty's hips on either side, Eusine began to pull him back against himself as he rammed his full length inside with such force that the kitchen echoed with the sounds of skin hitting skin. Under such treatment, the recipient had to rely on the counter to support his weight since his legs could no longer do it, what with their weakened knees.

"Hnngh, Morty, it's so tight," moaning loudly, Eusine began to thrust faster and faster, causing Morty to squeak.

The pain hit him first, followed closely by the pleasure of the rough penetration.

"Nngh, Eusine. I love it when you're inside me," he cried out. His fingers were still hanging on to the sponge that he had been cleaning up with. It was a good thing as well because the bulkiness of it stopped him from digging his nails into his palm.

God, no one could pleasure him like his friend could, or so he thought. On more than a few lonely nights, he had tried to emulate what he got with Eusine by using a dildo that he had purchased in quiet shame. No matter how hard he tried, though, he just couldn't give himself an experience that could hold a candle to what was happening to him now.

Besides that, Eusine had discovered that dildo shortly after its purchase and had rather enjoyed torturing Morty with it—making him suck it, slapping him with it, or forcing him to masturbate with it while he watched. Nothing turned him on like humiliating the blonde gym leader. There was very little that he wouldn't do to achieve that goal, either. Morty could waste an entire day listing the things that Eusine had shoved inside of him, or worse, made him shove inside of himself while being fed lines with which to degrade himself. Which was the better reason for self loathing- the fact that he allowed his friend to make him do these things or the fact that he came while screaming Eusine's name every time?

At least now none of that was happening, much to Morty's relief. The soreness in his ass made him paranoid of any object that looked like it could fit up there. Watching Eusine dust had made a nervous wreck of him because he was sure he was going to end up getting fucked with the handle of the duster. That had happened once, and the experience hadn't exactly been pleasant.

"I love you, Morty," Eusine was moaning now.

How Morty wanted those words to be true. For now, he could pretend, helped along by Eusine's arms wrapping around his waist to hold him close as they came together. Just as it had been promised, their tryst was quick. Eusine leaned on Morty for just a few moments after he was spent, then, grabbing his hair; he pulled him into a rough and sloppy kiss before withdrawing his now soft member.

"I'm going to go take a bath." He slapped Morty's ass suddenly, and then that eccentric man was gone to do just as he had said.

Morty always hated the used, empty feeling that overcame him after he was fucked by Eusine. The latter would always go his own way, be it to sleep or back to his search for Suicune, leaving his partner to question why he kept going through this. Why did he often find himself laying in bed waiting for Eusine to get horny enough to want to return to Johto? That was the only reason he came back. It had to be. He almost never showed Morty that their relationship mattered for anything else.

There was plenty of time to reflect on it all as he finished the dishes and cleaned the mess of semen that he had made against the door of the cabinet beneath the sink. Having a hot bath helped with the muscle soreness, but it didn't really take away the dirty feeling that he had. There was only one way to be rid of that feeling, but it required doing something that he felt he didn't have the strength to do.

His smile hid the fact that he was a deeply confused and troubled young man. Sometimes, he wanted to throw off that façade— to scream and to cry to someone for help. But who would? All of this was pathetic, made worse by the fact that he did not hate or blame Eusine for any of this. No. Morty was in love with him and had been from the days when he was an innocent thirteen year old boy.

But tonight, those troubles wouldn't show on his face. His friend had actually been rather gentle with him compared to the things that usually occurred. He had said "I love you", three words that always made Morty's heart soar, as naïve as he was for letting things shouted during sex be taken to heart. Even if he weren't in such a good mood, he needed to pretend it, for tonight was the night of Johto's Autumn Festival.

It was held every year in rotating cities. This year, it would be held in Ecruteak. Thus, Morty just had to attend, as gym leaders were the most respected representatives of their cities. In truth, Morty had been in Goldenrod City, but he had never thought of that place as home. No, home was here amongst the people who lovingly called him Matsuba-kun. For them and for the beautiful city that he loved, Morty dressed himself in a fine black kimono with a purple obi. As was his trademark, the end of the obi was splattered in red. Being in these clothes made him feel proud and it brought a smile on his face that remained as he met Eusine in the living room. His kimono was purple with a red obi that he kept fussing with.

"I've always hated wearing these things," he grumbled. "Anyway, let's go."

Morty nodded eagerly, and out they went into the crisp autumn evening, heading towards the center of the city. They were not alone in this. Crowds of people from all over Johto and even from other regions like Sinnoh and Kanto were joining the festivities.

The Autumn Festival was like a carnival with games, rides, cotton candy, balloons, clowns, and anything else that a festival should have. Here and there, one could spot musicians playing acoustic instruments and singing or perhaps accompanying dancers. On their way, they passed Bugsy, Azalea Town's gym leader, giving a demonstration with his Scyther. Not wanting to distract the purple haired boy, Morty kept on going. If asked, he would find a spot to give a demonstration with his own Pokémon, but for now, he just wanted to enjoy the atmosphere and to be with Eusine.

The festival itself always brought out romantic feelings in the gym leader, though he could never explain why. Perhaps it was the idea of a carnival being something of a perfect date in his mind. Whatever it was, those feelings spurred him into reaching for Eusine's hand, wanting to hold it as they walked.

"Don't be a fag," Eusine snapped as soon as Morty's hand touched his. Pulling it away, he scowled. "People can see!"

It was hard to bury the hurt he felt, but the rejected lover did so for the sake of the festival. People were already starting to wave at him, and so he made the effort to return the cheer that they had shown him.

A little further away from Bugsy, a crowd was gathering and cheering loudly. High above them a gigantic bird of tan plumage rose, its magnificent crest of red and yellow streaming along behind it.

"Pidgeot!" It screamed before suddenly diving back towards the earth at astonishing speed. The crowd parted and a small yellow creature with a long tail and tough, square shaped scales bounced past. That bird Pokémon in the mean time landed and the crowd cheered as they filled in the gap again. Morty spared not a glance to the trainer that claimed the Sandshrew and instead pushed through the crowd towards the trainer of the Pidgeot.

His kimono was an exquisite piece in the color of the sky with a long white obi, while his hair was a deeper blue, cut short with a fringe that fell over his right eye, which was sort of a shame. If the left eye was indeed something to go on, that right eye would be a beautiful gem of royal blue.

"Falkner!" Morty called as he shoved through the crowd towards him. In all of this, he lost Eusine, though he figured his best friend would catch up well enough. Right now, he was excited to see his old friend, Violet City's gym leader, again. "Hey, Falkner!"

"Morty, hey!" That smile caused some of the girls in the crowd to melt. That was no surprise, as this trainer was known throughout Johto for how handsome he was. "And Eusine!"

Now Morty turned and smiled, seeing that his best friend had indeed caught up. Good. It was never his intention to leave him behind for long, even if Eusine himself would have thought nothing of ditching Morty to have a long winded conversation with another friend.

"It's been a while," Ecruteak's gym leader smiled as he leaned into a brotherly embrace. The exchange was so brief. Just long enough for Morty to note that Falkner smelled nice. It was some sort of incense that had likely gotten into his clothes, the blonde would guess. Whatever it was, he had to find a few sticks for his house.

"It has been. I'm sorry that I don't visit you more often," Falkner smirked in that cool manner of his. "Then again, you don't make much of an effort to see me either."

He was joking of course, as both knew well how it was nearly impossible for gym leaders to travel. Even when they did, it was rarely very far. Morty could read Falkner well enough to know that he wasn't serious. Smiling, he felt his heart melt when Eusine's arm settled around him and didn't think to question it.

"How have you been, Falkner?" the traveler of the trio asked. Morty could also read Eusine well, and the tone in which the question was asked made him shiver just a bit.

"Doing great!" The handsome trainer smiled. "We renovated the gym a bit recently. People are always 'Morty's gym this. Morty's gym that'. It woke up my competitive spirit."

By this point, the trainer that Falkner had defeated had gathered up his Sandshrew and left. Thus, the crowd had begun to disperse, following the roar of a Steelix. From where they stood, the trio could see Olivine's gym leader, Jasmine. Morty wanted to go and say hello, but suddenly, there was a crowd of little ones gathering.

"Minaki-sama, tell us about Suicune. Tell us, tell us!" they pleaded.

For as harsh as Eusine could be with Morty, he could never say no to children, especially when they were asking him to tell stories on his favorite subject. Kneeling, he began to ruffle the hair of the small boy who had led the group, his fondness for children showing in his smile.

"Should I tell the story of when Ho-oh created Suicune, Entei, and Raikou?"

"Yes, yes!" the children cried in unison.

"Alright, let's go over by that tree," Eusine smiled and began to lead the way with several children clinging to him.

This left Morty alone with Falkner, which he did not mind. He told himself that Eusine didn't need him. In fact, he typically felt that way. His best friend could do his own thing without Morty trailing along. He was the one being the fag, as Eusine put it, by wanting to cling to him and follow him through the whole festival. He wouldn't make a nuisance of himself tonight and give his friend cause to berate him. He would show that he could be independent to and hang out with his old friend.

"He's really good with the under four feet tall crowd, isn't he?" Smirking at Morty, Falkner returned his Pidgeot and started in a slow walk towards a stand with cotton candy and pulled down two cones—one purple and one blue.

"Yea, he is. Hey, let me pay for…" Before he could get the words out, Falkner had already put down his coins to pay for the cotton candy. Morty frowned heavily on this, but took the blue one when it was offered. "I'm a higher tier gym leader. You shouldn't waste money on me."

"Well, I know purple's your favorite color," Falkner smiled that knee weakening smile of his. "Consider us even."

"Tch," Morty rolled his eyes as he bit into the cloud of sugar and dye.

Seeing this reaction, Falkner smirked again and started to walk further on, keeping the slow pace for his companion. Compared to Morty and even Eusine, the flying type trainer was short. However, he made up for this by carrying himself as though he were six feet tall. His steps were also graceful, as though he were flying along the ground, making him quite interesting to watch.

Morty was only a few years older. Falkner had just made eighteen in the spring, while Morty was had turned twenty one, like Eusine, whom they were rapidly getting away from. Falkner did not seem to mind this, but then why would he? Morty's best friend really wasn't the blunette's issue, and he seemed all the more carefree for it as he picked at the purple cotton candy.

A breeze blew in between them, causing the young man to smile. "It's a beautiful night for a flight. I love soaring above the tree tops in autumn, creating leaf trails behind me. By the light of the full moon, it's like a dream."

"You're always so poetic, Hayato-kun," Morty smiled fondly. It was true, in his opinion. Whenever Falkner spoke of flying, an aptitude for phrasing left the ghost trainer with an odd wish to experience what his friend did when he hang glided or soared on the back of his Pidgeot.

"You say that to me every time I go into one of my little rants, and I thought I told you to stop calling me Hayato-kun," smiling, Falkner moved a bit closer to Morty, his hand brushing against the taller man's but not taking it. The fact that he was disappointed by this left the blond a bit confused, but he kept himself well composed.

"I apologize, Hayato-kun," he smirked, earning him a jab in the shoulder.

"I might be a traditional man, but to you, I am always Falkner."

"Hm, but it's different to me," shrugging slightly, Morty bit off more of his cotton candy. They were nearing Jasmine now. Though he couldn't see her face, he knew it was her because he could see the wing-like tufts of her sticking up on either side of her head. He did want to say hello, but at the same time, he was hard pressed to end this intimate conversation with Falkner. It was so rare that the two of them were given the chance to talk like this when the other lived so far away and with the both of them constantly busy.

Moving a bit closer to Falkner, Morty went on with a widening smile, "Here, me calling you Hayato-kun is actually more affectionate than calling you plain Falkner."

"Really?" Moving the hair over his eye back for a moment, Falkner gave his friend a curious glance. "To us, it is more traditional and distancing, but I guess I don't mind it now that I know why you do it. I still say I'm no poet though."

"But you are, Hayato-kun. Whenever you speak, I suddenly feel your longing to fly. Ah, I can't explain it. Not like you could."

"Ha," Falkner laughed a little before turning his full attention to Morty again. "You're really the only one I know who doesn't tire of hearing that over and over again. Then I guess there's the fact that we don't see each other much. You'd be bored of it soon enough."

"Never, Hayato-kun, never."

Falkner moved even closer to Morty and again their hands touched. Now he noticed that his companion had pretty much given up on eating the cotton candy. Could that mean that Falkner had /wanted/ to hold hands? There was only one way to know. Daring to take the leap, Morty reached out and took that hand in his. The response was a blush, but Falkner didn't pull away at all.

In doing this, Morty felt no guilt. He loved Eusine. He was sure of it. But Eusine never showed this level of affection, which he so desperately craved. Falkner seemed willing.

"Hey, Morty? Would you go flying with me some day?"

It was such an out of the blue question that he had never imagined Falkner asking. What a romantic gesture, though. Eusine only ranted at Morty about Suicune or moaned its name when they were fucking, as disturbing as that was. He never explicitly invited Morty to share in his world. In fact, the gym had been left to Morty merely because the obsessed young man had wanted to be free to chase his obsession—his only love, in all honesty. But Falkner was different. He was cool and well, he could be flighty, no pun intended. Yet, he was genuinely sweet of heart.

"You would want me to?" His voice was softened by adoration as he felt his heart melting. Oh dear. He could fall in love with Falkner and, truth be told, he knew he would be better off for it. The only problem was his heart still clung to Eusine.

"Mm," Falkner nodded.

At least he seemed unaware of the larger problem. No one really knew the darker nature of Morty's relationship with Eusine. They thought it was a close friendship, at best. Who would suspect it of being an emotionally abusive love affair?

"I will," he nodded with a smile and found himself now wishing that they could tonight. Just as Falkner had said, the wind for it was perfect and the night itself was beautiful. The sky seemed pregnant with stars and the autumn moon was bright and full. All they needed was the tree tops to create the scene of Falkner's perfect flight.

"Hm, Morty."

The fact that his friend had suddenly stopped walking made the blonde confused. What was going on, he asked within his mind, though his heart knew. The two were face to face now, and Falkner's was getting close to his, his breaths sending the scent of cotton candy and mints to Morty's nose. Some kids ran past on either side, pushing against their legs, but neither minded. The rest of the world ceased to exist.

"Falkner, please d-," the blonde started, but it was too late. Smooth, satin lips pressed against his own, rendering his knees useless.

It was wrong—it had to be. Yet, Morty couldn't help but close his eyes and melt as Falkner's arms encircled him. True, he was taller, but not so much so that this was awkward. With those watery knees of his, his slouching would put him about level.

He wanted to say so many things. He wanted to ask so many questions. He wanted more. However, he felt his arm being roughly pulled and knew that it was all over, perhaps forever.

"Eusine," Falkner was the first to speak. Morty was too horrified to say a word.

"Sorry to interrupt, Falkner," the man in purple smiled pleasantly. He didn't seem angry at all, but Morty knew that he had to be. No one could read Eusine better. Every word that followed had to be a lie—a terrible pack of lies. "Something came up and I need to steal Morty, but I saw Whitney on the way here. She was asking about you. Something about if you wanted to do a match with her."

"A match with Whitney, huh? Sounds like a challenge!" Falkner beamed and started off in the direction that Eusine had come. "See you later!"

Just like that, he was gone, and it was as though that tender kiss had never happened. Yet, it had. There would be consequences for it to prove it. There had to be.

"Well, come on," Eusine said as he began to pull Morty along. "I've already decided what I want to do with you…"


	3. Chapter 3

"I saw a game where you can win Gengar plushes. Come with me and I'll win one for you!" An arm settle around Morty's waist and he was led casually along, back past the gathered crowd near Jasmine and towards the booth where a game with milk bottles had been set up. "I'll win for you, Morty, even if it takes me all night!"

Well, this was certainly confusing, to say the least, and not at all the reaction that Morty had expected out of Eusine. Honestly, he had not known exactly what to expect, as their relationship had not seen such an incident as Morty kissing someone else until this night. Neither had ever really expected that it would occur, as he was usually so clingy to Eusine. But it had, and blond had expected a lot more anger than this.

His best friend was actually cheerful and more than willing to plunk down his cash in order to play this game in the hopes of winning one of the plushes. Not sure of what to say or do, Morty stood nearby and watched as his friend aimed balls with the goal of knocking all of the milk jars off of the table. When he didn't get it in his first try, the expression on his face was actually apologetic.

"I'll get it this time Morty," he said as he forked over more Pokedollars to try again. "I'm gonna win you one of those things, even if it takes me all night."

"Eusine, you don't have to waste your money on me," Morty sighed. It seemed that too many people were willing to do this for him tonight, and he was bewildered when it came to the reason why one of them was doing it. Eusine never bought him things. Why was he doing so now when he should have been in a foul mood? None of it made sense, and it left him quite nervous.

"Hey, I said I was going to get you one, damn it, and I will!" Now Eusine showed annoyance, but it was typical of him when someone was trying to talk him out of something that he wanted to do.

Arguing about it was going to get him nowhere, and so the blond made the decision to step quietly aside to watch. Thankfully, Eusine's second attempt went much better. The last jar was a little stubborn about it, and it appeared it wouldn't fall, but then it too plunked down in the soft grass that made up the floor of the booth.

"Here you are, one Gengar plush," taking it down from the wall that it hung on, the carney started to hand it off to Eusine, who waved his hand.

"Give it to the lady," he gestured towards Morty.

"Ah, same old Eusine," the blond smiled fondly as he took his gift. How had he ever doubted?

Smiling, the green eyed man took Morty's hand and began to lead him along towards another game. This gesture was again questionable, especially since just earlier he had called Morty a fag for wanting to hold hands like this.

Eusine took him all around the carnival this way, holding hands or putting an arm around his waist. They actually had a lovely time as well. When they got hungry, they shared a corn dog and fed each other fries. It also turned out that Eusine had told the truth. Whitney had indeed wanted a match with Falkner. It was going on near them as the couple was getting on the ferris wheel. Morty wanted to watch, but he also didn't want to pass up the chance to do something romantic. Still he had to ask about all of this.

"Eusine, why are you being so sweet?" The giant wheel was turning now, with the two reaching the top just as Morty posed his question. From this height, he found himself casting a curious glance at the ground below in time to see Falkner's Pidgeot take off.

"I'm leaving at dawn," Eusine's voice brought the gym leader's voice back to the moment at hand.

"You are?" He could not hide his disappointment at all. Sighing, his eyes lowered and his countenance fell.

"Don't start acting like that, Morty. You know what I do. I'll go wherever Suicune goes, but…" lowering his voice, he reached out and caressed the blond's face. Finally, he was showing love, but what did it matter when he was going to leave for months or a year? What more could he really have to say?

As he nuzzled into that hand, he battled back the feelings of hurt and abandonment by telling himself that his best friend left him because he had to for the sake of his dream. It was not his fault. Not this time.

"What were you going to say?" Morty asked when the silence had lingered for too long.

"But I always come back here for you."

"Eusine," Morty melted and put his head against the other man's arm.

"I wanted to establish some things before I left," Eusine went on softly as he stroked the hair away from Morty's face. "You're mine, Morty. You always have been. You always will be. Tonight, I'll make sure you don't forget that."

"Mmm, Eusine, I love you," the words just flew right out of his mouth, but he didn't regret them. Eusine didn't give him time to even think of it.

"I love you, Morty."

In that moment, Morty was the happiest he had been in years. His heart took off on the wings of eagles, leaving his body behind to cling to Eusine and cuddle the Gengar plush that he had one for him. In that moment, everything was perfect.

After the ride had ended, they got off and passed Falkner, who had finished the match with Whitney, apparently, and was now speaking with a crowd of gathered trainers, passing on his knowledge. As they passed, Morty saw something in the one eye that he could see of his friend's. Was it hurt? It sure did not look like happiness. The blond felt that if his friend was hurt, there was no one to blame but himself for allowing the flying type trainer to grace his lips. Oh, how sweet that kiss had been, but no. It should not have happened. Morty belonged to Eusine.

"Matsuba-kun, Matsuba-kun!"

He had been thinking heavily on it all, hugging his plush Gengar and holding tight to Eusine's hand as they walked. However, the sounds of many children calling his name stopped Morty in his tracks. Smiling he turned to the kids.

"Yes?"

"Show us your Gengar! Show us your Gengar!" It became a chant, joined by more and more children, and even some young adults. All of them wanted to see one of Morty's most popular Pokemon.

He knew which one they meant- the one that had been his companion since the day he was found alone and shivering hear the Pokecenter with a Gastly hovering over him. That Gengar was actually still at home, but Morty had only to whistle, which he did by placing two fingers in his mouth and blowing. The piercing whistle would be lost to human ears, but the Gengar would hear it and come rising from the shadow of a tree minutes later.

"Gengar!" the Pokemon announced his presence and everyone gathered around him.

Morty was bombarded with questions on a variety of things, and then targets were brought out to show off the Gengar's Shadow Ball technique. He was more than happy to demonstrate for those who adored him, and his enthusiasm showed as he directed the Pokemon to aim and hit the targets with the ghost projectile. During all of this, Eusine got away from him, but that was alright. Most likely, he had gone off to teach children about Suicune again, he told himself.

When the demonstration was over, his lover found him again and looped arms with him, leading the way back to Morty's house.

"I wanted to stay a little longer," the blond protested with a slight frown.

"Well, I wanted alone time with you before I had to go. There are some things we need to discuss," Eusine insisted.

After the night they had shared, it was the least that he could do was to go home with Eusine minus the complaints, the gym leader told himself. Nodding, he allowed himself to be led back, though he felt regretful that he had never been given the chance to say hello to Jasmine, Whitney, and Bugsy or to say goodbye to Falkner. Hopefully, they would all understand. Things got so hectic at the event that sometimes it was difficult for gym leaders to associate amongst themselves, though they often made an effort to do so.

Even though he still felt that his night had been cut short, Morty was in an excellent mood as he followed Eusine into his bedroom. Wanting to put the plushy down on the bed and get off of his feet for a little while, he continued on to sit on the bed while Eusine shut the door and locked it. The blond did not think anything of that, beyond the possibility that his friend was in the mood to fuck. Wasn't he always? Well, Morty would have done or agreed to anything that he was told at that point. Thus, he was smiling as Eusine approached. It faded quickly, however, as he was slapped across the face.

"You fucking slut!" Eusine had become Mr. Hyde in a matter of seconds, and before a confused Morty could react to the first slap, another was delivered.

"Eusine, wh-" he could barely get the words out. His face was hurting so bad and everything around him became blurred by tears.

This was not enough for Eusine, who slapped Morty hard again. Then he grabbed a handful of the blonde hair and threw his lover, who had trusted him so much, to the floor.

"How long have you been fucking Falkner?" he screamed.

And so that was what this was about. Eusine had been angry, but he had been saving it all for this moment. Terror gripped Morty's heart as he stared up at Eusine with tears streaming down his face. He did not know what to say at all, which proved to be terrible for him.

"SLUT," Eusine screamed, beginning to kick and stomp at Morty, who curled into a sobbing ball.

He could have fought back and won, especially considering his height advantage on Eusine. The problem was, he was too frightened by all of this to do anything more than cower and cry.

"How long have you been fucking him? You answer me!" Eusine sounded more like a demon than he did the one who had spoken so sweetly on the ferris wheel only an hour early.

"I'm not," Morty sobbed weakly. "Please, Eusine. Don't hurt me. Don't hurt me!"

Those pleas fell on deaf ears. Still enraged, Eusine took of his shoes and began to use one of them to beat Morty. When that failed to satisfy him, he stood again and resumed kicking and stomping him. The victim of this abuse tried to crawl away to the corner, and seeing this, the demon's eyes narrowed as he aimed his foot precisely for the blond's wrist. Bringing it down hard, he was satisfied with the shriek that followed.

It was not a long cry at all because Morty soon found that the pain of his fractured wrist took his breath away. Sitting up quickly, he cradled it in his good arm and scooted into the corner while Eusine pursued relentlessly, throwing his shoes while screaming and cursing at him.

"YOU," he growled and then smiled. He actually smiled.

Unfortunately, there was nowhere to go now for the scared and hurting young man. Looking to his attacker with horror, he screamed and then felt his bladder let go as his hair was grabbed. In this way, he was pulled roughly to his feet and slammed hard against the wall. His shoulder struck first and a terrible pain shot through it, right down to the injured wrist of the same arm. Still holding onto his hair, Eusine slammed Morty's head repeatedly against the wall. Then he threw him forward onto the floor. Out of instinct, the blond had put his hands out to break his fall, which caused him more pain in his injured wrist. Then a foot came down on his back side.

"Get up, Morty. Get the fuck up. If I have to come down there…"

"Eusine, please," Morty pleaded through his sobs as he slowly climbed to his feet. The world was spinning now and he felt his nausea more than anything.

But Eusine had no remorse. Grabbing Morty by that hurt wrist, he seemed to delight in the scream of pain as he threw him at the futon. Unfortunately, the force behind it wasn't enough, and Morty stumbled, his face hitting against the frame of bed. Blood gushed from his nose and his sobs were broken as he climbed onto his futon, only to receive a knee in his back.

"I have to teach you, Morty," Eusine raved like the lunatic that he was. "You made me do this. I love you so much."

"Please n-no more," Morty sobbed. "I'll be good! I'll be good!"

"Yes, you will."

The room fell silent for a few moments before the whir of something flying through the air preceded an incredible amount of stinging pain along the back of his legs. Again, the whir came shortly after, and the pain followed predictably. The riding crop- Eusine had used it on him before as part of a kinky game. It had been enjoyable then. Now it only added to his humiliation and terror.

"You are mine, you hear me?" the abuser kept ranting to the abused as he flailed him.

Even this was not enough- not for long. His sobs had died down to whimpers, but his horror was renewed when Morty felt his lower half being undressed and exposed. His legs were parted and something entirely not flesh was shoved inside of him. This had happened before, as well. It was the handle of the riding crop. The lattice work of the leather was difficult for him to take, but it was not the worst thing that he had been violated with.

Gripping the sheets with his good hand, Morty squeaked as the thing was pushed into him and then whimpered on each withdrawal. He was hurting terribly, both inside and out. For all that Eusine was, he had never thought he would see the day where his best friend had become his abuser. But here it was as plain as day. He had been beaten and was now being raped by the one he loved. He loved him still.

This was the first time that Eusine had reached such a level of violence. Thus, Morty could not guess when it would all be over. Nor could he predict what would happen next. However, he knew that through all of this, Eusine would work himself up into horniness. With that in mind, he was not at all surprised when Eusine turned him over and entered him.

"Look at you and your face," the abuser moaned. "Do you think anyone could love you, other than me? You're pathetic. You pissed on yourself."

Feeling nothing but shame, Morty closed his eyes and turned his head away as Eusine tried to kiss him. He really should have know better. Never would Eusine allow himself to be denied of something that he thought belonged to him. Grabbing the sides of Morty's aching face, he forced him to turn his head and kissed him roughly, causing pain to a busted lip.

"You're mine, Morty. No one loves you, but me. Not your mother. Not your dead father. Not Falkner. You saw how easily he walked away from you. All I had to do was point him towards a battle. I am all that you have."

All he had was someone who caused him pain, scared him, and humiliated him. Why was he back to this? Sobbing quietly, he cradled his aching wrist and wished for all of this to end soon. Deep within his heart, he did not care how it concluded, so long as it did.

"Tell me you love me," Eusine demanded.

But Morty refused to speak, even as he was slapped around for his disobedience. His mouth tasted like copper, and as he tried to open his eyes to see what he now planned to aimed for, he realized that one wouldn't. Swollen shut—he should have guessed that at least one of them would be. Well, it didn't matter. Nothing mattered. Morty wanted Eusine to kill him, and so he spat his mouthful of blood into the man's face.

"God damn it, Morty!" Eusine's expression turned to one of absolute disgust as he backed away from Morty and started to frantically clean his face. "You bitch!"

The blows that rained down on Morty were now delivered with a fist, each one putting stars before his eyes. He was starting to black out now, which was actually a relief because he could no longer feel his pain. When Eusine entered him again, even that was something that he was barely aware of. It was as though he had stepped outside of his body and now floated above it, watching himself being choked and raped. So Eusine really did mean to kill him. It was alright. He could hear his father's voice calling to him.

"Daddy!" Morty felt so happy. They were going to be together again, at last. No one would ever hurt him again, but then…

"Get off of me! Morty, call them off!"

It was as though someone had thrown his soul right back into its body. At once, every part of him afflicted him with pain that made him scream in between gasps for air. From where he lay, he could see Eusine struggling and flailing about the room as he was attacked. The youngest Gengar was holding onto Eusine's leg and biting while the eldest was latched onto his back, his claws mercilessly working his face. Screaming, the victim of the Pokemon attack turned towards the blond, who now saw his Sableye clinging to the front of Eusine's clothes while clawing his throat, neck and chest. Seeing this, Morty did not know what to say or how to feel. He loved his Pokemon very much for trying to protect him, but they were hurting Eusine, his love. Why was there a decision to be made here?

"Alakazam," Eusine called out, which made Morty panic.

"N-no! No! Gengar, Gengar, and Sableye, stop that right now!"

His Pokemon all looked at him, confused and hurt. He could feel their disappointment in being scolded for protecting them and he hated himself for it. Still, it was the right thing to do, or so he thought. This was his problem- his mess that he had started by kissing Falkner. He was not going to let his precious companions become entangled in this mess.

When the golden foxlike Pokemon had arrived, Morty could not say, but there was the Alakazam standing by Eusine now, his dual spoons held outward and ready for a bitter battle. He could be just as cruel as his master. The ghost trainer did not want to see that cruelty turned to any of his Pokemon. No, let him be the one who was beaten.

"Out, all of you," he spoke sternly, even though every part of him ached so much that he was in tears. They all turned and reluctantly went, their spirits falling. He wanted to tell all of them that he loved them, but all he could do was lay there in bed and hurt. "Y-you were right, Eusine. I'm sorry. Finish punishing me, please."

Of course he did not want that punishment, but he had to divert his lover's attention away from the ghost Pokemon. This worked just fine. Smirking, Eusine returned his Alakazam and resumed his position atop Morty.

"I think I have punished you enough for one night, Morty." Moaning, he slid inside of him again and finished where they had left off. This was disturbing because the blond had seen that Eusine had wounds.

Every inch of him was in so much pain, but he didn't let himself cry too much. As for Eusine, he did not even notice it that Morty didn't cum for him. It didn't matter to him either way.

With a grunt and a sigh, Eusine rolled off and away from Morty to sleep, not bothering to try to comfort the one that he claimed to love—the one that he had hurt deeply on all levels of his being. It was fine because Morty didn't want his or anyone's touch.

At the hour before dawn, Eusine was up again, preparing to go. As soon as the door to the bedroom was opened, Morty's Sableye ran in and snuggled on him. If it were possible for that Pokemon to glare, he would have been. But at least his presence kept the man's touch away.

"I will be back in a couple of months, I swear to you, Morty. No more staying away for an entire year. That's my promise."

"I love you," Morty said softly. He did. After all that Eusine had done to him, he still loved him. What the hell was wrong with him?

"I'll send a postcard as soon as I get where I am going." Heading out of the door, Eusine paused for a moment before turning. "And Morty… if I find out that you were anywhere near Falkner, I will kill you…"


	4. Chapter 4

"Hm, wind's going south at about five miles an hour. Not a good day for gliding, huh, Hoothoot?" With a serious expression, Falkner turned to the round owl Pokemon that was perched on his shoulder. Of course the bird had no response to this, other than repeating his name. However, the flying type trainer couldn't help but ask Hoothoot's opinion out of habit.

Shrugging, the gym leader tightened the sash of his hakama and then stepped away from the edge of Violet Gym's roof, where he had stood to test the winds before his planned flight. With the Autumn Festival over, he had reverted to his typical outfit— a sky blue haori with four white accents on the front: two on each side, a kimono and hakama in a darker blue, black bracers with red trim on either end, and lastly, white tabi with black trim and red at the ankles, and black shoes. He had mentioned to Morty that he was a traditional man, and this outfit reflected it well, being something more suited for the feudal era than the modern times in which he was born. But it was comfortable and caught wind nicely. Falkner loved it when his clothes were disturbed by the breezes. It made him feel as though he could fly away, which was his dream.

It would not be achieved today, most especially on his own, with the wind going in the opposite direction than he planned to travel. Thus, the blunette retrieved a Pokeball from his sash and rolled it along his palm.

"I have this feeling…" And that feeling was the reason for his flight. There was some unresolved business, sure, but more than anything, he could not escape this nagging feeling that something was wrong and that he needed to head North for Ecruteak.

He could daydream about it all day, that kiss that he had stolen from Morty. Even now, he brought his fingers to his lips and touched them, still unable to believe he had done that. It was not a cool moment, not in his opinion. He had acted on impulse and likely made a fool of himself. Morty had Eusine. Why would he want someone who had only a few months of manhood under his belt?

"Hnngh, Falkner, what are you doing?" Shaking his head with audible displeasure, he stepped towards the edge of the roof again and looked down. He was pretty high up—the people passing by looked like toys from his vantage point. It was likely that some of them were challengers, but they would be turned away today. This gym's leader was prepared to take off.

Falkner still held the Pokeball as he took several steps back and ran for the edge of the roof, launching himself off with his arms spread wide and his feet held tightly together. The feeling of rapidly falling as the wind whipped over his lithe frame was exhilarating. Gravity was actually lenient and let him go quite a distance before it began to pull at what it felt belonged to the ground. But Falkner, for as long as he could remember, had never complied with gravity. Smiling broadly, he let go of his Pokeball, releasing his Pidgeot, which immediately swooped under the falling trainer in a successful catch.

On the ground below, spectators were gasping and pointing skyward. Falkner was either cool or completely insane, in their opinion. Those who thought him cool were the ones who saw it as him trusting his life to the wings of his Pidgeot. The ones who thought he was insane couldn't help but imagine what would have happened if the Pokemon had missed the catch. Would a Falkner pancake taste like blueberries?

For today, he was able to deny all chances to find out, as he was now safe on the back of his Pidgeot.

"I hope that didn't ruffle your feathers too much, Hoothoot," he called to the owl, who flew along close beside the master. He hadn't even felt it when it had happened, but he knew that Hoothoot had fled his shoulder the moment the roof jump had happened. "Well, you'll be fine as long as you have wings. I envy you that, old friend. Anyway, on to Ecruteak!"

It was not a long flight at all— half an hour, at the most. Still, it was lengthy enough for the flying master to think and plan his words. He had wanted to apologize for the kiss and to express his hope that his actions hadn't put their friendship on an awkward level. After all, it was better to have Morty for a close friend than to lose him by foolishly pursuing him for a lover. He could learn to be happy with what he had, even though his heart longed for more.

The Pidgeot came to a landing near the gym shortly after noon, and Falkner returned it before walking towards the building with Hoothoot perched on his shoulder. When he was close, he raked his fingers along his hair, smoothing down any wayward strands. Then he ran a finger over the part that covered the eye that he would never show. Perfect. He could tell this without aid of a mirror.

As he neared the gym, he could also tell that something was wrong. One of Morty's trainers stood outside of it, holding up a hand as she tried to explain that the gym leader was out for the day. Falkner caught the tail end of it as he approached, and he was shoulder checked by an angry young man, which had come in search of a badge.

"Don't waste your time," the guy grumbled as he stormed off.

At this, the Violet Gym leader merely shrugged and continued on to the young woman who worked under Morty. "He's out today? What's wrong?"

"He called and said he wasn't feeling well," as she said this, her eyes showed great concern. It wasn't like Morty at all, Falkner knew this well. If Morty was sick, trainers that came to his gym were just going to be at risk of catching whatever—the gym leader was just that dedicated to his work.

"Is he at home now?" Crossing his arms, Falkner felt his brow crease for just a moment before his expression evened out again. Normally, he would be able to accept that Morty would have a good reason for his absence, but there was that feeling that had been nagging him since last night. Eusine had been so rough when he had grabbed him…

The girl nodded, "I am sure he is. No one's seen him le-" Before she could finish, Falkner had walked off in that direction. "He won't open the door!"

The girl calling after him reminded the blunette that he had just done something rude. Oh dear, he would have to apologize to that poor girl later on. Perhaps he would ask Morty about her and then send her flowers to make up for what he had just done. For now, he was just so concerned for his friend that he had forgotten how to behave.

Just as it had been predicted, Falkner's knock went unanswered. "Hey, Morty?" he called at the door. "It's Haya- Falkner. It's Falkner."

Still no answer came. Could it be that Morty just did not want to see him? If he wasn't feeling well, that was plausible, but just so not like him. Falkner wondered if he should just give up as he turned away from the door. He got his answer when a Gengar popped out of his shadow in a panic and began pushing him back towards the door.

"Wh-what?" Falkner stammered, not sure if he was being attacked or of what was happening at the moment. "What's going on?"

Hoothoot seemed ready to attack the Gengar out of protectiveness for his master. However, Falkner held him in place, even as the Gengar kept shoving him. He realized now that it was trying to tell him what he had been feeling all day. Something was wrong.

'I'm coming in, Morty," he called as he turned the knob to the front door, finding it unlocked. Well, there was really no reason to lock it in the first place—not in such a homely place as Ecruteak. If anyone walked into the gym leader's home uninvited, it would be to leave him a surprise gift or something else of an entirely benevolent nature. Still, Falkner felt hesitant to walk inside, and so he lingered near the entrance, much to the Gengar's annoyance.

"I'm moving. I'm moving!" Falkner complained as he was pushed towards Mort's bedroom. He hated to be rushed, especially when he needed a moment to gather his cool about him. What he didn't realize was that it would not have mattered. Nothing could have prepared him for the sight of his friend.

"Morty!"

It was so horrible that Falkner was sure he had walked into a nightmare. He could feel his heart racing to pump rage through his veins, while he felt his eyes begin to threaten to spill tears. Yet, he kept his calm about him for the most part. He did rush to Morty's bedside, where he knelt, the one blue eye of his widening as he beheld the mess that his friend had become.

Morty's left eye— that beautiful eye— was swollen shut and surrounded by bruised flesh. The other side had fared better, with only some swelling on the cheek. But, that was no comfort to Falkner, who stared first at the busted lip and then the pillow, which had a large blood stain. There were also blood smears under Morty's nose as well. Dear god, was it broken?

"Morty…"

"F-Falkner, please don't look at me," Morty stammered and then began to sob.

"Morty!" Screw being cool and calm—how could he when someone he cared for so much was battered, bruise, and crying. He took the blonde into his arms and was startled by the gasp of pain. Only then did he notice that Morty had been cradling his wrist to himself. Biting his lip, Falkner laid the injured man down again and tried to take that hand.

"No, please stop!" Morty sobbed.

"Morty, let me see it," the blunette pleaded. But Morty only shook his head and cuddled the wrist to his chest. Without really meaning to, Falkner's turned his expression stern and held out his hand. "Morty, give it."

That demanding tone and the sense of authority that it held actually worked well for Morty, though this was something that Falkner had not picked up on just yet. He was simply happy when the blond finally held out his wrist. Taking it, the blunette kept his touch as light as possible as he felt along the bones, quickly finding the fracture.

"I should take you to a hospital," he frowned. "It's broken."

"No, don't! I don't want to go," Morty sobbed and sat up quickly to cling to Falkner. "Please don't make me."

"Alright, I won't…" At the time, he was willing to say anything that would calm his hysterical friend. He held onto him for just a moment before lying him down again and standing. "But I have to set that bone, Morty. Do you have bandages?"

"Bathroom," Morty nodded slowly as tears streamed down his battered face.

"Hm, alright," Falkner nodded. "Stop crying, ok? I'm here and I'm not leaving you."

How he hoped those words would mean something to Morty—that they would give him even the smallest amount of comfort. Of course, he was not naïve enough to miss the fact that what happened here was Eusine's doing, just as he had not missed that those two had some sort of love affair. The latter had been very apparent after that foolish kiss. Dear god. Was this Falkner's fault?

Biting his fist, he turned just in time to bump into Morty's Mismagius, who had a roll of bandages in its mouth.

"Oh… ok then. Thank you!" He took the bandages from the cat-witch and returned to Morty's side, waving them. "Mismagius got them! Now…this is going to hurt. I can't lie. I'll be as gentle as possible."

Sitting on the bed, Falkner took off one of his bracers and held it out towards Morty, who instinctively knew what to do. The tears continued to stream as the blond bit into the leather and waited.

He was as gentle as he could manage as he took Morty's wrist again. Just this action hurt the poor young man, Falkner could tell by the freshening tear stream. Having done this before, he was able to set the bone where it should be- it hadn't really moved out of place all of that much to begin with, thankfully. Still, it pained him to hear Morty's gasps of pain and to see him cry more. How could Eusine stand those tears? How could anyone?

"The worse is over," he spoke calmly as he started to bandage the wrist. "It should be able to heal just fine now. I still wish you would let me take you to the hospital…"

Morty shook his head furiously and pulled the bracer from his mouth with his still functional hand. "They'll know…"

"Know what?" Falkner's brows furrowed as he continued to work, keeping his eyes on what he was doing for now.

"I don't want to go to the hospital. I just… please, will you run me a bath? I just want to take a bath." And then he broke into fresh sobs.

Morty—his Morty—was a hysterical mess. Seeing it made Falkner's blood boil, but he would not let it show. The last thing this poor, unfortunate soul needed was someone else having an emotional outburst. He would deal with Eusine. Oh yes, he would. But Morty did not need to hear the declaration of those intentions. He needed love and comfort right now.

"Don't cry, Morty, please," speaking softly, the blunette gathered his crush into his arms and held him as close as he could without disturbing the bandage job he had started. "It's breaking my heart to see you cry, so please don't. I'll finish with your wrist and then run a bath for you. Just be careful not to get it wet, alright?"

Morty clung to Falkner's haori with his good hand and nodded against him. Falkner held him for a few moments more and then returned to the bandage job, falling silent as he became lost in thought. His patient also fell quiet and his sobs died down to little sniffles here and there.

"Done," Falkner announced when he had finished. Retrieving his bracer from the bed, he pulled it back on with disregard for the teeth marks. Then he stood. "I'll run your bath now."

Morty nodded and shut his one good eye. At least he was calm now, the blunette told himself as he left the room to find Morty's bathroom. That wasn't hard for him, really. The house was pretty small and not very modern, he had noticed. He liked that, though, being a traditionalist.

Going over to the tub, he started the hot water and then sat on the edge to watch it fill. Was this his fault? He really could not shake the feeling that it was. The guilt nagged him like his mother used to before she died. In her eyes, everything was his fault, and so he would dream of flying away from her and her impossible standards.

From this, he could not fly away. Even if it wasn't his fault, and no matter how much it pained him to see Morty this way, he needed to be at his friend's side. He would punish that rat Eusine for daring to lift a hand towards Morty in this way. No one should ever. bNo one/b.

He had actually meant to go back and get Morty when the water was done, but he found himself roused from his thoughts by the blonde's entrance into the bathroom.

"I-I couldn't wait," he stammered as he began to explain. "I didn't want to be in there alone anymore."

"I understand," Falkner nodded slowly. "You need company and comfort just now. Here, I'll turn away while you undress."

Morty did not seem to care and just started to do so even before Falkner could turn his head. Out of respect, the Violet City gym leader still diverted his gaze, however. He could hear the rustling of cloth and then the soft splash of water as Morty settled into the tub. Still, he refused to look in that direction.

"I feel like this is my fault," he confessed. "I came here because I wanted to apologize."

"It's not your fault," was the soft reply. "It's mine."

"No," Falkner shook his head.

"Yes. I reached for your hand and held it. I let you buy that cotton candy. I pretty much instigated all of this. I deserved it."

"Morty, no…" Now he dared a look. The tears had stopped, thankfully, but those words were enough to cause him heartbreak.

"I deserve it again for letting you take care of me. I'm so worthless and pathetic, Hayato-Kun. Why do you care?"

"You're my friend, Morty," Falkner answered with his brows furrowing. He wanted to confess right now- to say that he loved him. Now wasn't the time for declarations of love. If the right time could not be found, the words would never see the light of day.

"I don't deserve it," the blonde sighed.

"Don't get your wrist wet, Morty," that was all that Falkner could think of to say without saying those three words. It was so cold—colder than he wanted to be right now. Thus, to soften the blow a bit, he found a towel and started to wash the other man's back for him.

Silence fell on the room after that, though it was a comfortable one. Morty even started to fall asleep as the other continued to care for him by moving on to wash his hair after the back wash. It was unusual to do these things for someone else, but he did not mind. Washing one's own hair had to be difficult with a broken wrist, and besides, the act itself would get the bandages wet.

In total, they spent about an hour in the bathroom before Morty decided that he was done. Falkner got a towel for him and then turned away again as the other man stepped out of the tub and went to get dressed.

"You should go," Morty finally spoke after he had his clothes on.

Refusing, Falkner shook his head as he fastened the pin on Morty's scarf for him. "I refuse to leave you here to try to do everything by yourself. In fact…"

Morty stared at the blunette in confusion as, not only was he dragged by his good arm out of his bedroom, but he also had a Hoothoot perched on his head. "Falkner?"

"I'm going to fly away with you, Morty! No one can stop me. Not you. Not your Eusine. I'm taking care of you until that wrist is better."

"But the gym!" Morty protested as he was pulled along. "I have battles and… "

"Pidgeot, come out!" Falkner was not about to listen to excuses on this. He could not stay in Ecruteak himself, and besides that, Morty needed a break so that he could rest and heal. "You don't want anyone to see your injuries anyway. Better let me take you home with me."

"Ha-Hayato-kun…" the blond blushed, but had no further arguments, which was exactly the way the flying master wanted it. He did love it when Morty let him take charge.

Pidgeot waiting patiently as his master helped on his passenger. Then as soon as Falkner had mounted, the bird took off at such a speed that it made the ghost trainer gasp and cling to the other man.

"Don't be afraid, Morty," the blunette smiled. "I trust my life to my Pidgeot's wings. Trust me."

Morty nodded—Falkner could feel the movement of the head against his body—but he did not let go of the haori. Well, it was the blonde's first time flying like this, wasn't it? At least he had his eyes open so that he could take in everything as the soared above and below it.

"The wind is with us!" Falkner declared. It was true. Pidgeot barely needed to flap his wings now that they were traveling with the southern wind. "Even the wind wants you to go home with me, doesn't it, Hoothoot?"

"Hm," that was all that Morty had to say on that subject, which was fine with the flying master. It was more than what Hoothoot would have to say, and besides, as long as he had that ghost trainer so close to him, he was happy.

"So much open space" the blonde observed. "From this height, everything looks so strange and unreal."

"Wait until you see what rooftops are like. I'll show you it all, Morty. I'll take you anywhere."

"Take me, Hayato-kun. Show me everything that you see when you fly."

At this, Falkner only smiled. Words would ruin the moment, he felt. Instead of heading straight for Violet City, he directed his Pidgeot to detour and took Morty over the national park and the ruins. He had meant to fly over Goldenrod. However, Morty had seemed suddenly uncomfortable when he noticed it in the distance. A question for another time, he told himself. Right now, the blonde needed to forget that he had cares and troubles, if only for the length of an afternoon flight.

Morty did seem to be enjoying himself, though he continued to cling to his friend while keeping that injured wrist close to himself. He was most fascinated whenever they passed people, who looked more like ants from their altitude. Some of them would glance skyward at what Falkner thought must have been an awesome sight—a Pidgeot soaring overhead with a Hoothoot tailing it and two trainers on its back.

Since they were avoiding Goldenrod, Falkner flew over Route 31 and followed it back to Violet City. Just for show, Falkner actually passed over his home and all of the others to fly around the town.

"It's like something out of an old legend," the blonde spoke softly as they passed Sprout Tower, heading back for Falkner's home.

"It's just home," the blunette smirked. "And here we are."

Pidgeot descended gracefully outside of Falkner's house and hunched down so that both trainers could dismount him easily. The bird's master went first and then helped Morty down. Then he dug around in his sash before presenting some berries to his Pokemon.

"Thank you for a lovely flight, old friend. Have a good rest."

With Pidgeot returned, Falkner held up his arm for Hoothoot to perch on and then led Morty inside of his home. Evening was falling, and so the first thing that he did once they were inside was to light the many lanterns around the main room, brightening it and filling it with color that reflected beautifully on the shoji screens.

The blonde was in apparent awe as he took all of this in. "Your house is so beautiful compared to mine," he gasped as he stepped towards a giant iron fan mounted on the wall above a plethora of giant cushions, each with kanji meaning different things.

"Really? All of this stuff is so old," Falkner shrugged as he went to kneel before the low table at the center of the room. On it was a scroll, a bottle of ink, a jar of brushes, and various figurines. "My grandmother gave most of it to my mother and so on for a few generations. Now all of it is mine."

"Wow, my mother hates me too much to give me anything," Morty said bluntly and then lowered himself amongst the cushions. "It's so comfortable. Hayato-kun, I love your house!"

"Haven't even shown you all of it," the blunette smirked in turn. "Hm. And you can't decide whether to call me Falkner or Hayato-kun, I see."

"I know you prefer Falkner, but everyone calls you that," Morty smiled as he sat up. "I guess I really started to call you Hayato to be different."

"You can call me that then. I already told you that you could," Falkner smiled as he picked up a box from his table and opened the lid. Finding only a few folded bills in there, his smiled wavered just a bit. He was getting close to broke, which was usually fine. However, he had wanted to order in food for Morty instead of torturing him with his cooking. From the looks of things, doing so was going to break his bank. "Well, I guess I'm making ramen tonight."

"I'm not picky," Morty smiled and then added on in a rather sweet tone, "Hayato-kun."

"Ramen it is, then. Do you want anything special in it?"

"Not picky," Morty reminded him and then yawned. "I could use sleep now, though. Would you sleep with me?"

Oh how easy it would have been to misinterpret that. Falkner knew better, and so he merely nodded and stood, holding out his hand. Morty also regained his feet and took that hand with a smile. Together, they went past the shoji screens, each painted with different scenes, to Falkner's bedroom.

This was not really how Falkner had pictured any of this going. In his dreams, Morty had not been brutally beaten and who knew what else before their flight together. When he imagined them coming to this room together, it was to make love and then sleep afterwards. Well, at least he was getting to sleep next to his crush. Beggars can't be choosers, now can they?

He let Morty lay down first and then joined him at his side, meaning to keep a distance. However, Morty yawned and snuggled right up to him. With the other man this close, it did not feel like much of a daring move at all to put his arms around him. The blonde even seemed to appreciate it, evidenced by the way that he moved even closer. But they were just friends, Falkner reminded himself. No matter how much this felt like a lover's embrace, he needed to remember that it meant nothing. Oh how his heart longed to give it meaning. It was only soothed by a reminder of how fortunate he was just for this moment. So many people longed for a chance to sleep next to someone that they cared deeply for. He was being given this chance. Even if it was not on his terms— Falkner was fortunate. Even if Morty would not accept his love, for now Falkner was content.

AN: It would actually be pretty damn impossible to talk and hear each other while flying, I know. It's also impossible to fly on giant birds. 3


	5. Chapter 5

[I should dedicate this chapter to my friend Desi/Nate/Matsufag etc. My entire depiction of Morty is HEAVILY based on the way that she roleplays him, including the story that he tells of his past in this chapter. So yes. Dedicated to you, dear. 3 ]

Morty was not surprised to find himself alone upon waking. He lived alone, after all, and when Eusine was there, he had no problems getting out of bed before Morty to do whatever he needed. He had always been an early riser, Eusine, while Mort liked to sleep in a bit. It suited him, mostly due to the type of Pokemon that he trained. They were always at their most hyper in the evenings, especially close to three AM, which meant that staying up late was something that their trainer had done since his fateful meeting with a certain Gastly.

What did feel strange was finding himself in a bed that did not belong to him. From where he lay, he could just make out his reflection in a mirror above the bed. He would ask about the object's location later, if he could remember. For now, he could not help but gawk at the bandaged wrist and the bruised face.

"Eusine did this to me," he whispered to himself and felt his eyes flood with tears.

The physical pain was bad enough. He had a splitting headache, which made his swollen eye and the bruises on his face pulse with the pain. His nose was tender to the touch—that he found out the hard way. Also, his shoulder was sore from being slammed into the wall and his wrist…well…that was the center of his agony. The hurting hadn't ceased from the moment that Eusine had caused the injury. He could take all of it just fine, though. This was not his first broken bone. What hurt more than all of the physical pain he was in was the fact that Eusine, the one that he loved, had caused all of it and then r-r-r… No. It wasn't rape. Not between them. Men can't be raped anyway, right? Right…?

He didn't want to think about it anymore, mostly because he feared the answers to his own question. Sitting up was a little difficult for him, but he managed, and started to look around the room that he was in. Falkner's house was indeed so very pretty. The perimeter of the room was lined with lanterns in different colors, none of which were lit at the moment. That was alright. Morty could imagine how lovely it must be when they were. All of this was old, Falkner had said, but it was so well kept. Standing, Morty went over to an armoire and dared a look inside, finding it filled with Falkner's clothing items. He actually did not have much in there. He and Morty had that in common—the nearly bare closets.

"I wonder," he spoke softly as he grabbed the sleeve of a dark blue kimono. He gave it a sniff and then smiled. Yes. This was the same scent that Falkner had last night. In fact, it was all over the house, the blonde realized. Along with that scent was something that smelled like herbs and the unmistakable scent of food, which made Morty's stomach growl. He would go find Falkner.

Like Morty's house, the flying trainer's home was rather small. The main room was the largest of the house, with the bedroom being next. He had a rather small bathroom with only a sink, a very old looking toilet with a chain for flushing, and a shower. Morty peeked in as he passed and smelled the scent of a soap that had a sweet scent like honey or something. The air in there was also rather damp, hinting that the owner of the house had showered recently. This was confirmed when he found Falkner, who was again kneeling before his table in a light blue kimono with a white obi. His hair was still wet and clinging to his face. As he approached, Morty saw that the right eye wasn't covered, but before he could get a glimpse of it, the young man realized he was no longer alone and raked his hair over it. So close.

"Did you sleep well," Falkner smiled up at Morty as he held an ink-filled brush in one hand and the wide sleeve of his kimono in the other.

"Well enough. What are you doing?" Curious, Morty fully joined Falkner in the room and knelt opposite him at the table. Obviously, the blunette was writing something. His calligraphy was almost perfect too. Morty noticed this and also the symbols that made up his name. "I can see my name there. You wrote it as Matsuba."

"I figured you would appreciate that," Falkner smiled. "This is my flight log. I write about everything- where I flew, who I saw, how long it took me to get there and back, the weather, the wind speed and direction—everything."

"And so you needed to mention me."

"Hm," lowering his eyes to the scroll, the flying trainer resumed writing. "Are you hungry now? I finished dinner about an hour or so ago, myself. I didn't want to wake you because you needed the rest."

"I could eat," Morty smiled outwardly. Inside, he wondered why he felt a bit disappointed that Falkner was only writing about him as it related to today's flight. What more should he have expected? The young man loved to fly, and it showed. Why would he put some sort of declaration of love or any foolishness like that in his flight logs?

"Wait right here."

Falkner placed his brush down on a dry rag near his scroll and stood, leaving the room for the kitchen. While he was gone, Morty studied the scroll and found that his friend was serious about this being a flight log. Apparently, he also meant to fly to Kanto. When? He would certainly be missed.

The planned trip was all that Morty got to read of before his host returned with a large white bowl and a blue cup with a pair of red chopsticks sticking out of it. These items, he sat before Morty, who backed a bit away from the steam that rose up towards his face. The bowl held ramen noodles with shoots, sprouts, a slice of some sort of meat, and an egg cut in half, while the cup was obviously tea. Taking the chopsticks from the latter, Morty stuck them into his mouth to suck off the residue of the beverage.

"Hm, this tea tastes like sugar cookies!" He hadn't expected that at all, and upon discovering this wonderful surprise, his entire face had lit up, in spite of the bruising.

"Not exactly traditional, I know." Smirking, Falkner lowered himself to the floor and resumed his calligraphy. "It was a Christmas gift for Jasmine. I like it so much, but it's starting to run out. So now I only allow myself a cup once a week or whenever I need a pick me up. You can have my cup for the week."

"R-really?" Morty couldn't help but look on the young man with adoration. How sweet of him to make a sacrifice like this, even if most would view it as trivial. "I could save half of it for you."

"No, you need to drink it all. That's another reason I made it for you," looking up from his work Falkner smiled slightly and then nodded. "I hid some herbs in there that should help with your pain. They're extremely nasty on their own, but the tea should hide the taste well, I think."

"You're being so nice to me, Hayato-kun. How can I make all of this up to you?" He began to slurp on his noodles while he watched his friend work. In response to the question, Falkner let his shoulders rise and fall quickly. Then he dipped his brush in ink again and carefully wiped the tip along the mouth of the ink pot.

"Tell me a story, Morty. I've heard your stories about Ho-oh. I've always loved them." Looking up again from his work, the blunette smiled sweetly. "Of course I would, right? It involves a bird."

"Is that what you want to hear?"

"Hm," Falkner shook his head slowly and returned to writing.

He was wearing his kimono quite loosely, Morty had noticed this before, but thought very little on it until now. The cloth was slipping away from his friend's left shoulder, exposing smooth skin. What would it be like to touch that shoulder? To bite it?

"Morty?" He hadn't even realized that he been daydreaming, but Falkner calling to him snapped him right out of it.

"Y-yes?" He could feel his face growing a little too warm for his comfort, but at least the tea and noodles could be blamed. The dashi was actually a little weak, but the flavor of the meat helped with that. Maybe he could repay Falkner's kindness by teaching him to cook a little better.

"I was saying that you must be tired of telling that story. Tell me something about you. Like about your Gengar. You told me once that he was your first Pokemon."

"He was," Morty nodded. Taking in a mouthful of noodles, he chewed hastily and swallowed. He was actually hungrier than he had originally guessed. The bowl was becoming rapidly empty, while he was approaching the content feeling of having a good meal inside of him. "He was a Gastly when he found me."

"Found you?" Falkner gave him a curious look as he dipped his brush again.

"Yea, found me. It's actually…. You see… my father died."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize…"

Holding up a hand, Morty shook his head. He didn't want to make his friend feel sorry for him anymore than he already must have. A story had been asked for, and he was going to tell it, even if it meant disturbing the ghosts of his past.

"You remember how I didn't want to go near Goldenrod?"

Falkner nodded without raising his eyes from his work. It sure took him a long time to write, Morty mused. Perhaps it was due to the fact that he did it so neatly and with such daintiness, like a dance.

"Last I knew, my mother lives there—if she's really my mother. I don't know. She used to tell me she found me in a garbage can, which makes me wonder. Whatever. She used to beat me, so Eusine can just… he didn't do anything I'm not used to."

"Hm," Falkner's brow furrowed and his lips tightened for just a short moment. Then his expression was even again. "Go on."

"Well, my father suffered because of her as well. She was always nag, nag, nagging him or screaming at him. For the tiniest disagreement, she would throw things at him and beat him over the head. I don't know why he put up with it. I really don't."

"I'm hating her more and more myself."

"Yea," Morty smiled slightly. He had enough of his ramen, likely because this story ruined his appetite. His injuries were all bothering him, though, especially the wrist, and so he took a few sips of his now cooled tea. "I thought he would take me away. I used to pray every night that he would—that he and I would go to live somewhere on our own. That never happened. I guess he couldn't live with her, but couldn't bear it to live without her, so he killed himself."

"Mort… I'm sorry…" Falkner dropped the brush and started to stand. However, Morty again held up his hand to stop him.

"You've done enough feeling sorry for me, Hayato-kun. I doubt there's a higher level of pathetic for me to reach. Just let me finish the story."

Something unrecognizable flashed in Falkner's eye as he resumed his seated position and picked up his brush. "Go on then."

Ah, he was always so cool, sometimes to a point of being downright cold. But then again, Morty had asked for it, hadn't he?

"I wanted to revive him," he went on with a sigh. For some reason, he felt as though he needed to make himself as busy as Falkner. Just sitting there looking at the other man while rambling on felt stupid, and so he picked up one of the figurines from the table and started to trace the indentations in it with his fingernail. Was this a Pidgeot or a Pidgeotto? He was kind of rusty on his flying types. "This scarf I wear was his. I took it with me that night when I tried to revive him."

"You tried to revive him?" The look on Falkner's face, for some reason, made Morty feel judged. In turn, it made him feel slightly angry.

"I was just a kid, ok?" He had snapped before he could stop himself.

"Didn't mean it as an insult," Falkner sighed.

"Of course not," Morty echoed the sentiment. He had just lost his cool in front of someone who was legendary for it. How low the Violet City leader's opinion must be of him right now. "It failed, anyway. I didn't even know what I was doing. I got the ritual from some old book of my mother's. She was into that sort of thing, rituals involving the dead and all. Anyway, I thought I had been successful because I saw this little ball of light…"

It hadn't been funny that night, but as he thought back on it now, Morty wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. He had thought it had worked, and his heart had filled with so much. As he related the story to Falkner, he imagined himself as that little boy calling out to what he thought was his daddy.

"Yea, my 'dad' started picking up sticks in his mouth and throwing them at me. Then when that bored him, he started headbutting me over and over again."

Falkner dropped his ink brush on the rag and covered his face with both hands for a moment. "I'm sorry, Morty," he apologized from behind them.

"It's fine. I find it funny now," Morty chuckled. "Back then, I had never seen a Gastly, and so I didn't know what was happening. The closest thing to it that I could find in the book was a Will-o-Wisp, so I thought that's what it was. Heh. It was just my eldest Gengar as a baby."

"Wow, I didn't see that coming," Falkner laughed and then uncovered his face to reveal his smile.

It was such a handsome smile, that it took a bit of effort on Morty's part not to lose himself in staring at it. To distract himself, he picked up his tea and took a few more sips. The herbs were helping already, he realized. His pain was dying down to a dull ache. Still, he would drink all of it, as directed.

"That Gastly was quite a bit of trouble to me, too," he smiled as he put down the cup. "I thought he would get tired of me and leave, but nope. He followed me home and threw more stuff at me there. I instantly loved him, though, because he also threw stuff at my mother."

"Ha!" Falkner laughed aloud.

"He was a real pain in the ass, but I found him cute… when he was sleeping. He would get right in my bed at day break and sleep under my blanket. Eventually, he started letting me cuddle him to sleep, but I don't know. For quite a while, he was not really my Pokemon, but more so a Pokemon that trolled me and then tolerated my affection. Eusine… Eusine helped me get through to him."

"So he is useful for something."

Hearing his friend spoken of in this way, Morty felt something flare up within his heart. Yet, he was actually going to do this. He was going to speak in defense of the man who had mercilessly beat him and then raped him afterward, partially because he still could not view what had happened as rape.

"Don't talk about him like that! I betrayed him, so of course he was angry. He lost his temper. This doesn't happen all of the time, you know, and… he isn't a bad person. The children in Ecruteak love him, you saw it!"

"Hm, yea, I saw it."

That was it- Falkner's reaction to being yelled was a flat, dull answer. Why didn't he get worked up and yell back like Eusine always did or tell him to shut up or something? Well, it didn't matter. Morty felt that he was justified in defending his lover. Implying that he was useless was just too rude. But soon, he regretted the outburst. The room grew silent, and Falkner appeared perfectly alright with that. Morty, on the other hand, couldn't stand it. He wasn't normally the type to have outbursts or behave as a brat, but he found himself tempted to grab the scroll and throw it up in the air just for the sake of getting a reaction.

"Hitodama," the blunette before him spoke at length.

"Come again?" It was no word Morty had ever heard before.

"Hitodama," Falkner repeated and then looked up from his scroll with a smile. "It literally means human soul. I'm surprised you've never heard it around Ecruteak."

"Well, no," Morty shook his head. "You and Eusine are the only ones that know this story. Whenever something ghostly happens back home, people rightfully assume it's my Pokemon being the little trolls that they are."

"They love you a lot. I can tell," Falkner smiled.

"I love them even more, but I have to confess that sometimes that Gengar relapses and throws things at me." The two shared a laugh at this and then Morty slid around the table towards the cushions.

That shoulder of Falkner's was still bared. So, sexy. Morty wanted to... Oh man, he was thinking of doing things with Falkner. This was not good. It was not good at all. He needed to distract himself, but how?

"So, you're into other guys too?" Not the best subject. Not at all, but it was the first thing to come to mind.

"What a question," Falkner smirked back at him.

Morty shut his eyes, halfway because he was feeling tired again now that he had a full stomach and halfway because it gave him an excuse to avoid his friend's gaze.

"We both are, honestly," he shrugged. Poor Morty was trying so hard to play it cool. Thus, he stole a page from Falkner. "I've talked about myself, so let's talk about you."

"Well, you like what you like, I guess." Grunting, Falkner lay back amongst the cushions and then yawned. "It is getting to be past my bedtime, but I guess I'm staying up to talk to you. I'm going to cry literal tears when I have to get up at seven to get ready for a battle at eight."

"You should sleep then," Morty smirked. "Even if it means that you successfully dodged the question."

"Can't have that, can we?" Falkner smirked back at him. "Well, if it wasn't glaringly obvious, yes. I am attracted to other guys."

"You're so confident about it," Morty spoke with genuine admiration. "But then that's just you, isn't it? Cool and unphased by everything."

"Eh, I'm only eighteen. I'm supposed to technically still be at the stage where I want to fuck anything that moves."

"Do you? Have you?" Morty fired off.

By this time, Falkner had closed his eyes, which was yet another disappointment to Morty, as the fringe was starting to slide away from that handsome face. That right eye was such a mystery to him, and to pretty much everyone. Even people who had grown up with Falkner had never seen that eye. Why was he trying so hard to hide it? Was it even there? The shape under the lid implied that it should be, but who knew? Maybe the eye was blind or something.

"You sure have a lot of questions tonight," the blunette spoke as though he could read minds. "To answer them, though, no and no."

"Are you waiting for someone special?" That was the only explanation Morty could come up with for why Falkner would still be a virgin.

"Could be," the flying trainer smirked. "No, I think it's more the fact that being attracted to guys makes getting a date difficult will you live in a small town like this."

"Hm, I feel your pain," Morty sighed. Without really thinking of what he was doing, he moved closer to Falkner so that their heads touched.

"Wow, you got close," the blunette laughed quietly. He was tired, Morty could hear it in his voice, and that made the conversation sweeter. Poor Falkner was staying up just to talk with him.

"You're cuddly," the blonde smirked. For some reason, he felt silly, playful. It was a good feeling, made better by the sound of his friend's sleepy laughter.

"You fag." It was the first time that someone had said it in a way that didn't hurt. Any blows it could have caused would have been smoothed over when Falkner rolled onto his side and lazily draped an arm around the blonde. "I guess you're pretty cuddly too. God, this has deteriorated into the stupidest conversation I've ever had, but I don't mind."

"Me neither. It's nice to be able to sleep next to someone who smells nice."

"Morty, I must have accidentally spilled crack cocaine into your tea," Falkner laughed and then yawned. "Should do it again too because you need to laugh. You deserve it… someone to laugh with and… yea…I'm slowly losing my ability to make sense."

"Sleep, Hayato. You're tired."

"Yea, you'll be here in the morning and then when I come back from the gym," the tired young man yawned. "It's like we're having a really gay sleepover. Really gay."

"Really really gay."

"Yea…gay…"

Those were the last words that Falkner said that night, not counting the little things he mumbled as he slept. If it weren't for his wrist, Morty would have picked him up and put him to bed. At least the cushions were just as comfortable, though.

He was not very sleepy, himself. Something about the conversation seemed to rouse him or it could have been the caffeine in the tea. Who knew? Either way, he watched Falkner sleep and listened to the things he softly murmured, though they made no sense whatsoever. At one point, he did say "hitodama", leaving Morty to wonder if he was dreaming about him. Ah, Falkner—so cute when he slept. He was **too** cute. The blonde's heart was melting, even as he told himself no. Don't touch. There was already Eusine, and besides, this boy was young and virginal. He was innocent- young and sweet— not to be corrupted like Eusine had done so many years ago.

"Matsu," Falkner mumbled suddenly. Then, much to Morty's surprise, he moved closer and put his head on the blonde's shoulder.

"Shh," Morty whispered softly and dared a kiss on the top of the young man's head. This was wrong. It was so, so wrong. But then, why did it feel so right?

AN: Dear god, what's wrong with me? I wrote all of this in a single night when I should be doing my final project. Also, thanks to the one person that reviewed this. I'm not worthy!


	6. Chapter 6

The passing of the days since Falkner's "abduction" of Ecruteak's gym leader saw the development of a routine that would have been laughable to both only a short time earlier, if only for how domestic it was. It had begun on that first day after Falkner had left for the gym. Shortly after, the blonde had taken advantage of a chance to sleep in a normal bed, and had crawled right into it with no regrets, sleeping in until about noon. The bird trainer had left only the instructions that Morty was to help himself to whatever food he liked, and so, upon waking, the blonde man had done just that while exploring his host's bookshelf. It really was not a bad collection. However, most of the titles proved to be about birds—Morty really couldn't get into them. He needed something to occupy his time, and that is where the domestic part came in to play.

Restlessness gave birth to this new behavior, in truth. Being left alone with his thoughts was always Morty's undoing, especially when Eusine was involved either directly or indirectly. The blonde had reached that stage of replaying all of the events over in his mind and pointing out where he had gone wrong or not said the right things. That kiss, for instance—as much as he had enjoyed it, he kept telling himself that it should never have happened. It was his fault, his weakness. He told himself that even now, by leeching off of Falkner's kindness, he was being a pathetic weakling. There was the thought that he should steal away while the bird tamer was gone, but he didn't have the heart to spit in the face of such a good friend. He also feared to be alone.

Being all mixed up, he had tried walking to clear his head. The people of the town were all friendly, but that made him feel guilty because it reminded him of Ecruteak and the people that he had left behind there. By now, they would have realized that he was gone, the gym leader was certain. They would likely think that he had abandoned them, and hadn't he? It was determined in his mind that he was not worthy of their love or to lead their gym. He was not worthy of anyone. As his mother had said to him once, he should have been left in the trash.

All of that negativity had led him, in the end, back to Falkner's house, where Morty had started to dust. It was the one thing he could do with one hand, that and polish things. So he had cleaned as much as he could, even go as far as sweeping the floors one-handed. Once all of that was done, he had showered and borrowed a robe from Falkner. He needed clothes of his own, really, but the robe would have to do.

By the time that Falkner returned that evening, dinner was waiting for him. His initial reaction was shock, followed by a scolding that Morty had waved off.

"I'm useless," he smirked. "But not completely. If I'm going to stay here and let you take coare of me, then you have to let me take care of you too."

That night, they had dinner together and then Falkner showered. After that, the two spent hours talking, first while the blunette wrote, and then while they laid together amongst the cushions. This was the first night of their routine, and it has to be said that neither of them had complaints for it.

It seemed that this was going to be the way of things for a while. For Morty, all of it was like a sort of vacation that he hadn't even realized he needed. What he also did not want to admit to himself was that he felt safe here because he would not so easily be found by Eusine. As much as he loved that man, he was not ready to face neither him, nor the people of Ecruteak again just yet. The memories of what happened were too fresh, for one thing , and being with Falkner did help so much with his healing process.

This couldn't last forever, as few things can. He knew it, and it nagged at his heart. He did not want to leave someone who never berated him for not cleaning properly or picked on him for the littlest things. How could he go back to a life without the nightly company of one who was never anything but sweet?

Each night, Morty would eagerly await his return each night as a wife would wait for her husband, and as soon as his ears registered the sound of that front door opening, his heart filled with as much joy. He was falling in love. It was dangerous, but it could not be helped, especially when the other made it so easy.

"Oh hey, guess what." Falkner blurted out one night.

As usual, the two were beginning to fall asleep out on the cushions. The only thing that had changed about their routine was that they had been playing dominoes before getting tired. As they had started off on the first night, they were lying side by side with their heads against each other and Morty was rolling one of the dominoes from his hand over his finger.

"What?" He smiled, fully expecting some major surprise. Falkner's voice had seemed excited to him, which helped get the blonde all riled up.

"In my bedroom, there's a **bed** and we can get up and go to it whenever we want!"

"You made it sound like something exciting, smart ass." Smirking, Morty balled up his fist and brought it down lightly against Falkner's chest. That cool, yet playful manner of the bird tamer's always got the blonde to smile. It could be said that it was his downfall. "I know you have a bed. I go to it every morning after you leave."

"Then that means you're a traitor," the other snorted.

Grunting, Falkner pulled himself up onto his feet and then held out his hand for Morty, who took it with a short whine of protest. He didn't really want to move, but since his companion was up now, he had very little choice.

Grunting slightly with the effort of pulling up someone taller and heavier, the blunette continued, "I know you like sleeping out here, but it's not good for someone as tall as you."

"Sure," Morty smiled as he was pulled to his feet. Without really thinking of what he was doing, he put his arm around Falkner's waist—a gesture which was all too quickly returned.

They walked in this way to Falkner's bedroom, past his Hoothoot, who stared at them from atop one of the shoji screens. It was silly to assume it, but it seemed as though that bird was judging them for their behavior. If he'd had forefingers, he'd be rubbing together to show that what they were up to was taboo, taboo, taboo.

Eusine, like a plague upon pleasant thoughts, came to mind because of this. Morty was afraid of betraying him, and as much as Falkner hated that guy, he was afraid of making a cheater out of his friend. Still, whatever fears they had were kept to themselves. The two settled into bed together and moved close to each other, both out of habit and also because it was a rather cold night.

"Hey Mort, I wanted to talk to you about one more thing before we go to sleep," the blunette yawned.

"Hm, what is it?" Morty repeated the action because it was so contagious. He was already starting to fall asleep, having grown used to this schedule of theirs. However, he started to fight it in favor of the discussion.

"I usually take Mondays off and fly out to Kanto—Celadon City to be precise."

"Ah," Morty spoke softly.

Unfortunately, he had grown so attached to Falkner that he couldn't imagine what he would do or how he would stand it with his friend gone to an entire different region for the day. Sure, he could pretend that the other was at the gym. He could try, anyway. The problem was he knew better.

"At first I was going to not go," Falkner went on. "But then I thought about it. Your face is healing up pretty well."

"I guess," Morty cut in. The swelling around his eye had definitely gone down, and he was now able to open it again, but he still had the bruises, though they were lightening as well. He supposed that Falkner was saying that he shouldn't worry too much about being seen in public now, but if that was the case, he could technically head back for Ecruteak. Was that the point? He wanted to take Morty home and then go on to his trip?

"I want you to meet my friend Janine, anyway, so you're going with me."

"Wait, what?"

That was not what he had expected to hear at all. Falkner knew this, obviously, since he started to smile. "I don't know. You seem to give in to me whenever I get bossy with you. Maybe someday I'll ask you why that is, but for now, I really want you to go with me, so say yes."

"Can't say I saw that coming, I mean, I thought you were about to say you were going to take me home…" And just like that, Morty revealed more of his emotions than he had wanted to—namely the fact that he really didn't want to go home. Not so soon, anyway. It wasn't just the injuries, anymore. No, it was the fact that he had gotten so comfortable in Falkner's care and did not want to walk away from what was developing between them—even if he needed to.

"Heh," the blunette laughed. For a few moments, that was all he could say without turning this into a dork moment. He, being unaware of Morty's thoughts and conflicts, thought it bad to read too far into this and to become happy that the blonde wanted to accompany him and that he also wanted to stay a little while longer. "I won't take you home until you say you're ready to go."

"I have to go eventually," the blonde tried hard to sound stern and resolute. Both men needed to be realistic about this. Morty had a gym to run and a lover, besides. He was an abusive one, but a lover still. Living together like this would become more and more questionable as the injuries healed and Morty became capable of everyday tasks again. He was already capable of quite a few things, even though too much activity caused him pain.

"I know you do," the blunette was holding back the sigh. Instead of letting it out, he killed it with a snerk. "I wasn't going to keep you here forever, dork face. I'll miss you when you're gone, though. That's the truth."

"Hm, Hayato, I'll miss you more," Morty sighed as he moved closer to the warm body next to him.

Why did it seem that playing with fire was worth the risk of painful burns? Morty put his arms around Falkner and didn't bother to hide his content when he was encircled in the other man's arms.

They slept together this way until the hour just before dawn. After waking the other, Falkner let Morty have a quick shower first. Then he followed him. Once they were both dressed, Morty in his own outfit, freshly washed the night before, the blue-haired young man led the way outside with his Hoothoot riding diligently on his shoulder.

Just as they stepped out, a strong breeze blew that ruffled their hair and clothing. With lightning fast reflexes, the blunette held down the hair over his eye until the breeze had passed. Then he smiled as he let go.

"Southwest winds at ten miles an hour, I'd say. Ready?"

How on earth he could have known that, Morty could only guess. Perhaps it was some sort of aviator's trick. Curious, the blonde started to ask, only to be halted as a more interesting question was raised. Namely, another wind blew, lifting Falkner's hair before he got a chance to react. Morty thought he had gotten a glance of the hidden eye, but it all happened so quickly. One moment, both were opened, and the next, the right one was shut.

"Ok, I can't take it anymore. I have to know about this right eye of yours," the blonde insisted.

"What's there to know? It's just an eye," Falkner shrugged. "If you've seen one of my eyes, you've seen the other."

"No, no," the stubborn young man shook his head. "You're playing this too cool right now when I've seen you go out of your way not to show me your eye."

"That's not true," the blunette shrugged as he released his Pidgeot and started towards it. "I moved my hair back at the Autumn Festival and looked right at you."

"It was dark where we were standing, Hayato. I didn't see it!" Damn. Somehow Morty had missed his chance. He did recall that gesture, but at the moment, he hadn't even been thinking enough to take a close look. "So apparently you do show it when you're sure no one can see it. Is there something wrong with it? Are you blind in that eye?"

At that last question, he paused and frowned heavily as he imagined his friend to have one clouded eye, which would stare off at sights it would never see. How sad. Perhaps he shouldn't have been so insistent, but curiosity had gotten the better of him.

"It's not blind," Falkner shook his head, at least alleviating that fear. "I just keep it hidden as a courtesy to others. Then again, you're used to weird stuff, aren't you?"

Morty nodded eagerly, while his friend sighed and started to run his hand over the fringe of hair that protected his secret. "The physicians in Sinnoh that she took me to told my mother that it's a genetic defect." Sighing again, Falkner pushed his fringe back, revealing his "dark" secret.

"Your eye…" Morty gasped.

"Yea, my eye. Heterochromia is the term they used."

The poor young man did not sound thrilled at all, which was something that Morty was too awed to notice. Taking Falkner's chin, the blonde studied both eyes to compare them. The left eye was a normal royal blue, but now that he was so close and in the sunlight, Morty could make out veins of gold in it. The right eye was the more extraordinary- a disc of gold with a ring of red flecks around the pupil.

"How did I miss this that night?"

Stepping away from Morty's grip, the blunette smirked as he let his hair free to cover his discolored eye once more. "Honestly, I wore a blue contact lens that night. I normally don't bother because it itches so much, but I knew I was going to be looked at by a lot of people that night, including you. Anyway, are you ready to go?"

"Hm," Morty nodded and allowed the other to assist him in boarding the Pidgeot. "You shouldn't hide it, you know. You'd be handsome with any eye color."

"You would say that," Falkner grunted as he slung himself onto his Pokemon's back. Smirking, he put an arm around the other man, who leaned back against him so that he was not an obstruction of sight. "You're too nice, for one thing, and you're used to seeing weird things. Not everyone is so forgiving. Just wait until I show Janine."

The Pidgeot took off then, leaving Morty to wonder about everything that was just said. Was he too nice? Hm, definitely, and that was why Eusine walked all over him. He was blatantly timid- even someone as sweet as Falkner knew to prey on that aspect of the ghost leader's personality. At the first sign of someone being stern and showing authority over him, he folded. He always had, because life with his mother had taught him to fear conflict and to cower at raised voices. That was why Eusine had gotten away with beating and raping him and why he would again. He wouldn't lie to himself about what he knew. Eusine had found a new method of control. That's what Suicune's stalker adored, what got that man off—control. Morty was a perfect lover for him because he let him have it every time.

Within his thoughts, the blonde could not help but berate himself, but then, that was not what Falkner had in mind when he had mentioned that Morty was too nice. The reminder of this came in the form of a tightening of the gentle arm that held him. It made him remember that he was safe for now. Falkner would not take him back to his farce of a life until he said that he was ready. For the sake of his Pokemon, the time span could not grow much longer. Still, he felt that he should enjoy what he had now. He could pretend that today was another day in his normal life and that the one holding him was the one to whom he truly belonged.

From up here, things that he had always known looked so very different; the flowers, the trees, the ground itself. Then again, he had known that it would be this way, thanks to all of his cruises atop of his Driftblim. Everything looked smaller, which in turn reminded him of the way that his mother would always tell him to get his head out of the clouds. Perhaps the trees could be likened to his problems. From way up here, they didn't look so big at all. Or perhaps he was just some punk trying to hustle a deep poetic meaning out of a situation that didn't have such a moment to give. He couldn't really tell, and so he thought it best to just enjoy his second flight with Falkner. The first had been a bit spoiled by the fact that he had been in pain, but this time, it was perfect.

The coolness of the morning gave away to an unseasonably warm and crisp afternoon by the time they came to a landing in Celadon City. Soaring over all of those rooftops and building had been amazing to Morty, who had never left Johto in his life, even with Kanto being as close as it was—he was astonished by how soon the flight was over, in fact. It made sense that it would be relatively timely, however, as Falkner did this every Monday.

After returning his Pidgeot for the time being, the blunette took Morty's hand to lead him to the department store, which was but a short walk away from where they had landed. It was a large, multistory building that left the blonde in awe, most especially of how modern it was. He was used to Ecruteak, Violet City, and the like, after all. This was a new experience that he would not soon forget.

Riding on an elevator was another such experience. "What are we doing?" he asked Falkner as they stepped inside of what he thought to be a strangely small room.

"Going up," the blunette smiled as he hit one of the buttons.

Morty's eyes widened in fascination as that button lit up in orange, but then he gasped and clutched the other's arm as he suddenly experienced the sensation of the entire "room" moving upward. It was such an odd experience, a bit comparable to floating towards the sky on Driftblim. However, at least he knew what was happening and could see what was going on. This elevator made his stomach feel funny, and he wasn't really sure that he liked it. However, he didn't want to say that in front of Falkner, who was always so cool about everything and obviously far more experienced with life outside of traditional Johto.

"I meet Janine here every Monday so that we can hang out and do our shopping together," the other was explaining as they stepped off of the elevator.

Morty merely nodded, the jolt of the ride up being a bit too fresh in his mind for him to be able to concentrate on much else, even if it was the words of someone that he had come to adore. Besides, it wasn't as though he would be quizzed on what was sad the way Eusine had a habit of doing. Not paying attention to the brunette's every word was just asking for drama and grief.

"There she is!"

Having his thoughts interrupted, Morty followed Falkner's gaze and the gym leader's quick strides to a young woman in purple. Even at first glance, he thought he saw why the two were friends. She was dressed more so like ninja, complete with a scarf and mesh under her clothes. Like the bird trainer, she wore bracers. However, hers were pink.

"Hey, not only do you have a dumb haircut, but you're late!" the girl called.

"I've got a good reason for that," Falkner smirked as the joined the girl at her side. "Anyway, Morty, this is my best friend Janine. Janine, this is Morty. He's the gym leader in Ecruteak City."

"Ghost types, right? Falkner doesn't shut up about you. He's pretty gay for you."

"Janine, shut your face," the blunette narrowed his eyes and the hint of a blush played on his cheeks. "Anyway, today is your lucky day. Morty talked me into showing him my eye, so it's only fair that you get to see it too. Ready?"

"Fff, see how gay you are for him?" Crossing her arms, the girl snerked at the pair. "Let's see it, anyway."

"See, woman, this is why I divorced you," the blunette smirked as he lifted his hair away from his eye.

"I divorced you because you were a bad father to our daugh- eww, your eye!"

Falkner laughed as he dropped his hair back into place, "See, I told you. Janine says whatever like the jerk that she is."

Frowning, the girl swung her arm so that the fist slammed hard into Falkner's chest. This caused the young man to stumble back a bit, though he wasn't hurt all that much. In fact, he was still smiling, showing that he was used to this sort of treatment from Janine.

Watching all of this made Morty feel out of touch with himself. Even as he told himself that he was being silly, his heart would not spare him the pangs of jealousy as he watched the play around and listened to them bicker as though they really had once been a married couple. Of course they hadn't been, the blonde told himself. He was being ridiculous and completely irrational—not at all like himself.

He barely even listened to their conversation. "And that's why I'm going to enter my Ariados," Janine was saying. But Morty had no idea of what she was talking about, and the will to contemplate on it was lost as he watched Falkner crouch so that Janine could climb on his back. Now, he felt like a third wheel—unneeded and intruding upon a scene of two friends that reminded him a bit of the old days with Eusine before all of this mess had begun.

_It's me…_ That singular thought resonated throughout his brain. He was always the ones to need others—to cling to them only to be brushed aside when someone more interesting became available. He should have known it would happen eventually with Falkner. It was always happening with Eusine. Morty was the other woman to a genderless Pokemon who likely did not want to be found. It was shameful.

The other two did not even notice him fall silent and trail behind, or if they did, they showed no signs of caring. For the rest of the shopping trip, Morty stayed to himself, smiling and nodding when necessary, but otherwise not speaking. It was not their faults, he told himself. It was his. Pretending that things could be different had been his downfall.

Until now, he had honestly started to allow himself to believe that something could grow between him and Falkner. Now he was sure that he knew the truth. The other felt nothing for him but pity. He was a charity case—no more or less. When all was said and done, he would be dumped back in Ecruteak and life would go on in Violet City as though Morty had never stayed there a short time and started to fall in love with the gym leader. It was just the way things were meant to be.

AN: Oh my god, a month later, but at least it happened. School is killing me, along with IRL drama. I will try to update more, I think. Yay?


	7. Chapter 7

As observant as he could be and as wise as he was for someone of his age, it was sometimes Falkner's undoing to fail to notice when things weren't ok. Or rather, it should be said that he /did/ notice that there was a problem, but he was good at convincing himself that he saw no evil. Some years ago, he had convinced himself that he didn't see that his mother was growing frail and thin. When he had learned that she was dying he had been shocked to tears, but all along, he had known that something was not right. He had known better than to believe her when she told him she would be fine and then switched to scolding him for some shortcoming or another. Yet, he had.

What was happening with Morty would not be as life altering as the death of his mother had been, but surely, it would have its impact. The end results would not be the same—it was the behavior that the bird trainer demonstrated to make the situations comparable. During their shopping adventure, Morty had smiled and nodded when appropriate, but he had faded most noticeably to Falkner. Something had made the blonde unhappy, and rather than doing something about it, he pretended that he did not notice.

Of course it was not lack of caring. What sort of person would go out of their way to bring an injured man into his home, care for him and establish an almost domestic relationship with him, but then abandon all of that caring in the span of an afternoon? Surely, the blunette was not that person. Disbelief was what caused him to behave the way that he had. Caution was also involved, since he felt he would have to go out on a limb. Truly he had to be seeing wrong. Morty could not have been jealous.

But that is what it looked like, in all honesty. Why else would a happy and smiling man become suddenly quiet?

"_Because he misses Eusine, obviously."_

The voice which he called the voice of reason finally spoke up after much pondering during one very silent flight home. Why wouldn't the sight of two friends together remind Morty of someone who had been his best friend since his early teen days? Why wouldn't he feel like someone just along for the ride, while the other two had fun? As much as they had tried to include him in their conversation and their games, it was not enough because they were not Eusine.

That was the logical explanation for it all, but then there had been the look in Morty's eyes when Falkner had kissed Janine goodbye. To him, it was just a peck on the cheek, though it had lingered a bit and he had held her close. But it was nothing, in his eyes. Even if the flirtation were real, why would Morty even care?

"_You want him to care."_

That wasn't the voice of reason at all. What he was hearing now was his own scolding thoughts, judging him for wanting a man that was already taken. Did Eusine deserve Morty? Hell no. What he deserved was a good old fashioned ass kicking. But it was really not his place to deliver it, was it? The blonde, who was leaning against him with his eyes closed as they journeyed back to Violet City, would not want harm to come to Eusine, even though he had been harmed in the worst of ways. Blows delivered by the hand of someone you love are always the most painful to sustain. But that was not the point, was it? What needed to be kept in mind was what Morty wanted, and obviously, he wanted his abuser.

It was hard to look down at that sleeping face—and it was like an angel's, that face—and know that he would eventually have to send this person back to the one that had broken and bruised it. Yet, after today's events, how could he say that he was fit to love Morty, either? Whether it was jealousy or not, the fact remained that Falkner, in denying that he saw a problem, had failed. In his mind, it left him with very little room to pass judgment on anyone, including Eusine.

As soon as the Pidgeot landed, Morty opened his eyes and slid from the bird on his own before going inside of the house without a word. Watching him go, the bird's master sighed as he also dismounted and started to untie the satchels with the items he had purchased in Celadon City.

It wasn't lost on the giant bird that his trainer was upset, and he nudged him gently with his beak before staring at him with eyes that seemed to ask, "What happened?" With the grace of a ballerina, Hoothoot landed on the Pidgeot's head then and also started to stare at Falkner with his wide red eyes. "Everything seemed fine this morning," the Hoothoot seemed to add on.

"What can I say," Falkner sighed as he pulled both to himself. "Humans, by their very nature, make relationships complicated."

It was true, wasn't it? Friendship would have been good enough between his Hoothoot and his Pidgeot, for instance. But he, being a human male, just had to be attracted to not only another male, but specifically one who should have stayed a friend.

"Well, can't avoid it or him forever, can I?" he said to the birds. Both answered by saying their names in a way that could have been mistaken for agreement. This made him smile in spite of the tense situation, and after feeding both berries, he carried the shopping inside, trusting that the duo would be just fine on their own.

Morty was to be found laying on his back amongst the cushions, one arm swung over his eyes as though he suffered a hangover and the dim light of the room by evening was too much for his eyes. Silently, Falkner put everything away and then sat next to him with folded his legs. If the other knew that the blunette was there, he didn't acknowledge it, and so that silence lingered.

"You're upset with me," the flying gym leader tried, at length.

"I'm upset with a lot of things," Morty sighed.

Falkner lowered his head, taking this for a concurrence, but then the blonde sat up, drawing the blunette's attention away from the sight of his own shoes. Their eyes met and Falkner reminded himself not to go breathless. Now wasn't the time for that.

"Not you," Morty tried smiling, but the expression was so out of place. For one thing, his eyes were betraying him by starting to glisten.

"Morty…"

"Seeing you with Janine made me confused," the blonde cut in. "I know how stupid and pathetic it sounds. I only halfway have the courage to tell you this because I don't want you blaming yourself for the fact that I am screwed up."

Falkner did not even have to think before refuting. "You are not," he furrowed his brow. "The people that should love you keep hurting you, and today, I let you walk around with something bothering you. I failed you."

"But that's just it," Morty sighed and lowered his gaze in obvious shame. Where the shame was coming from, his friend and admirer could only guess, but there it was. "You're not put here to babysit me, but that's all you've been doing since you found me. Even now, here I am, just… being a burden to you. Why do you care?"

"My question is how could anyone not?" countering, Falkner lay beside Morty and turned onto his side to look at him.

The blonde didn't seem to know how to answer this. He shrugged and then shook his head before resuming his spot amongst the cushions. His arm reached towards Falkner, but then he pulled away at the last minute, as though he had decided it was a bad idea.

Whether it was or not, Falkner decided to pull Morty against himself. He loved this person in his arms. If he could not say the words, why couldn't he show it in a moment when love was obviously needed? Morty didn't protest, and he even shut his eyes as he nuzzled against the one who offered this affection so freely.

"What about Janine?"

The question made Falkner's heart beat much faster than it should have. Imagine, he, who was known for his coolness, getting so overly excited because of a simple question like this.

"What about her?" At least outwardly and in his manner of speaking, he was able to play as though he was perfectly calm.

"I assumed you two…"

"I'm gay, remember?" He couldn't help but chuckle, mostly because he was so giddy. God, what a bastard he was to be happy right now. Morty /had/ been jealous, and now he knew it. Such a victory should come gift-wrapped in guilt, apparently. "Why do you ask?"

It seemed better to test the water before going any further. After asking this, he looked down at Morty and found the others face scrunched up, though the eyes remained closed.

"I'm f-falling in love with you…" and then Morty burst into tears.

It should have been a moment of joyful confessions. The reason it could not had a name, and that name was Eusine.

"But you still love him," Falkner finished as his heart filled with such hatred and jealousy.

Morty nodded slowly and clutched at Falkner's haori. All the blunette wanted in that moment was for the tears to end, and so he whispered softly to the other and rubbed his back until he finally calmed down. Sniffling, Morty sat up, and so Falkner did the same.

"I know what you're asking yourself," the blonde dabbed at his eyes. "Why the guy that beat you and raped you?"

Now the hatred was in full bloom. Falkner could no longer keep it from his face at this moment. His brows knit together, his eyes narrowed, and his lips seemed weighted at the corners.

"He **raped **you? Dear god, Morty. Is that what you were afraid they would know at the hospital?"

"I-I didn't mean to say rape…" Morty was looking at his hands now as though he had betrayed some great and noble man instead of the vile thing that Eusine was. It was not going over with Falkner.

"You said exactly what you meant." He was livid now, but instead of yelling, he actually sounded very calm. Too calm, likely. "He forced you to have sex with him."

"I-he… I asked him to finish b-because he had stopped…"

Making excuses for his abuser. It sickened the blunette to see this and made him want to go off to snap a neck.

"Morty…"

"I always want it! I mean, I didn't really this time, but I didn't say no."

"Morty…"

"I didn't say no!"

He didn't know what else to say, and so Falkner pulled the other man into his arms as though he could hug away everything that was so very wrong here.

"I didn't say no," Morty kept saying over and over, while Falkner held him.

Eventually, he laid down again, still holding on to the other. His head was racing with thoughts that seemed to be trying to keep up with the rapidity of his heartbeat. Being in love with Morty was not supposed to be like this—to invoke this much rage. If Eusine were an honorable man, it would be easy to step aside, as he felt he should. But Morty was in love with a monster.

"I don't deserve anything better," the blonde whispered.

"You keep telling yourself things like that, which is why you believe it," Falkner replied softly.

It seemed that the blonde knew it was true—he had no arguments against it. He only nodded and sighed.

"I'll go make dinner. You just rest."

He didn't give Morty even the slightest chance to protest before standing and rushing off to the kitchen. For just a few moments, Falkner needed to get away to think about what he was getting himself into. Morty had an abusive, raping boyfriend—it shouldn't have been his business, right? Well, now it was because he had chosen to get involved, and now he could not turn completely away from this situation, could he?

Anger was at the forefront of his emotions, and it was taken out on his kitchen accessories as he threw together some meal. While he worked, he barely watched what he was doing, but this process was tedious enough, wasn't it? Fish and noodles—it wasn't hard to make, and so it would not require enough of his attention, whereas it was a perfect chance to vent what he was holding back.

The anger was born of frustration, as Falkner had never figured out which situation was worse- to not know what to do or to be perfectly aware of what should be done, but find himself unable to do it. Right now, that swift ass kicking seemed the best thing, but he could not because Morty had put him in a position where it was not his place to do so. No, he was meant to listen to all of this, but do nothing about it, because if he did go and fuck up Eusine's shit, no matter how deserved it was, Morty would hate him for it.

So there it was—a conscious decision to do nothing. He would definitely not go out there confessing his love, even though Morty had confessed first. It might have seemed right to anyone else, but Falkner saw it as all wrong. What the blonde felt was not love, but strong gratitude and attachment towards someone who was there when he needed it. Eusine had only to walk through that door, say a few sweet words, and hold out his arms. This was sad, but true, according to Falkner.

Now that he knew what to do, he felt much calmer. He would continue to care for Morty until the wrist healed, and he would be a friend forever after that. But as soon as the blonde was capable of doing things on his own, it was back to Ecruteak with him.

It felt good to have that decision made. Falkner once again felt as though his thoughts and feelings were under his control, which is where he liked them. Thus, even though the air should have been tense, he actually managed to smile a bit. This faded, however, as he heard a commotion in his living room. It then resumed as he heard Morty's joyous laughter, only to waver as he wondered if Eusine was the cause of said laughter. Who else could it be?

Perhaps everything was not as hunky dory and easily figured out as he had imagined, because there was that stab of jealousy, hatred, and anger as he thought of that man daring to set foot in his house. His eyes narrowed sharply and he stormed into the room, carrying the two bowls with him and all prepared to tell Eusine that Morty was not going anywhere, and if that was a problem, it could be solved outside. There was no Eusine, however. The visitors turned out to be lots and lots of little ghosts.

"Hayato, look at them! They found me!" Morty's voice was so filled with joy that Falkner couldn't help but smile and then laugh as multiple Gastlies began dropping things into Morty's lap like his hairbrush, his toothbrush, and bawled up pairs of socks.

"Hey, yea!" Hearing that Morty was so happy, it made Falkner smile even brighter. He didn't even stop to think of the problem that his own joy was so attached to the others. Sending him back to Ecruteak was going to be harder than he presently knew it would be.

For now, the blonde was like a happy little boy as his Pokémon gifted him things that he had left behind when he had been kidnapped into the skies. They had been a sad bunch, these Pokémon, but they hadn't given up. They'd gathered all of his stuff together and brought them to their master. A Gengar had a suitcase that was a bit haphazardly stuffed with clothes, and when Morty opened it, a second Gengar popped out, surprising both men into laughing.

Falkner was still standing there with the bowls, but now a Haunter approached and took both away to sit on the table. Then the Mismagius began whizzing around Falkner's head as Sableeye nudged against the blunette's legs to get him to walk towards the table. This seemed innocent enough until the Gengar who had packed for Morty spoke his name in a tone that seemed to be commanding the others.

"Morty, what are they doing?" A very curious Falkner asked.

That blonde couldn't stop smiling. It was the happiest that he had been in days, really. "They want us to eat dinner together," he beamed.

That was fine enough, since it was something that had always happened. But now the lanterns were blown out by a phantom draft and the Pokémon were placing candles on the table.

"What are they…?"

"Obviously, they like you more than Eusine," Morty answered and his smile faded just a little.

It must have been hard to know that his trusted companions were against his chosen lover. Honestly, Falkner could not agree with them more, but he wouldn't say this aloud. What concerned him now was the fact that aforementioned companions had set up a romantic dinner for two. Had they planned this all along?

"Morty, I…"

"I know how this looks," the blonde quickly cut in. "I just… I mean, they saw what Eusine did to me. They always see what he does to me."

At that moment, the Gengar who seemed to be in charge began herding everyone outside, away from the conversation. Were it any other situation, Falkner would have found that amusing, especially when he realized that they weren't even going to let his Hoothoot come in to intrude on the privacy. He wasn't amused, though. He was too confused to be.

"How long has he been beating you?"

Morty shook his head and picked up his chopsticks to eat. They might as well- the blunette agreed to that silently by starting to eat as well. Outside, the Pokémon took this as success. He could hear their cheerful cries, Hoothoot's among them. So he was in on it too. Pokémon.

"It was only the first time," Morty answered softly after swallowing. "Only…"

"Yea, only, as though it can be excused, but definitely acknowledging that it would happen again." More bitterness than there should have been made its way into Falkner's tone. Clearing his throat as though he could be rid of it, he lowered his gaze to the food before him. "I didn't mean that so harsh and jerk like."

"You're not a jerk for telling the truth, Hayato," the blonde sighed. "The night of the Autumn Festival was the first time. I know he would do it again now that he knows I'm too scared to fight him. I'm just pathetic."

"Why Eusine at all," the blunette sighed in turn. "You could do better than that. I know you could."

Morty's smile was a sad one, and he nodded, even though it was apparent that he didn't believe a word that his friend had said to him just now. "He's been my only friend since forever. We used to just play around like you and Janine. It was… it was all fine until he started wanting to have sex. After that first time, he started treating me like he owned me."

"You're not property," speaking softly, Falkner reached across the table for the other's hand. Morty took it, but he didn't smile. Instead, he looked like he would be sick.

"I… he wants me. No one else does. Not my mother. If my father wanted me, he wouldn't have…"

"I want you, Morty," Falkner cut in. His heart was racing now and he wanted to slam his own head against the table. The timing wasn't right at all. There was nothing romantic about this, and he was only adding to the problems.

"I don't deserve you," the blonde whispered and lowered his eyes.

"Does it matter right now if you do or don't? You said no one wanted you and I just proved you wrong. I want you, Morty. That's why that kiss that we don't talk about anymore happened."

"The kiss that we don't talk about," Morty laughed, but it was nothing like the joyous noise he had made upon discovering that his Pokémon had come all the way to Violet City just for him. It was a bitter laugh, reserved for situations like this one, with mentions of actions that had led to an already difficult life becoming more difficult and confusing. "I'm falling in love with you, but I shouldn't. I wanted that kiss too, when I shouldn't have. I'm no good for you. All I'll ever be to you is trouble. I wish I could make you not want me, because then it'll spare you having to care when Eusine comes back for his whore."

The heterochromatic eyes closed and a slow, careful breath was released as Falkner counted to ten in his head. What he really wanted to do was to grab the table in both hands and heave it upwards towards the nearest wall. His rage wasn't directed towards Morty, not specifically. He was a bit frustrated with him, but he knew enough to know that the blonde hadn't just come into this mindset on his own overnight. No, years of mistreatment had implanted this negativity into him.

Falkner was also upset with himself for confessing his feelings while knowing that Morty would go back to Eusine willingly. Right now, he didn't even have it in himself to argue against the blonde's low opinion. Morty was absolutely not a whore, but convincing him of that wouldn't be possible. Not tonight. Perhaps not any night.

"I love him," Morty sighed. "I can't stop loving him, and really, all he has is me. He was just an orphan that got sent from place to place before he made gym leader in Ecruteak. He has no real family-nothing to call his own or anything like that."

"You see him and love him for all that he is. That's… real love," Falkner sighed. "That means you can't be falling in love with me, so at least that's settled. You can go back to Ecruteak as soon as you're well."

"But I don't know if I want that," Morty cried out suddenly. "I love him, but while I've been here, there are nights when I've woken up next to you and I've wanted you."

"So you have lust for me," he shrugged, even though he realized he was coming off more and more indifferent.

"And what if I laid right here and told you to have your way with me? Could you say at this point that you don't want it?"

"Not really," Falkner was surprised at this, but didn't let it show. "But I'm not the one saying they are in love when they love someone else. You are, but it's not your fault. You're confused because I've been nice to you. I've slept in the same bed as you. We've been so close…"

"Yes, we've been so close," the blonde looked up from the table, revealing his eyes and face to be wet with tears. "But even before now, going back to the night you kissed me, I knew I could fall for you and I'd be happy."

"Then leave him," Falkner said suddenly and before he could stop himself, he was at Morty's side, taking the other's chin into his hand. "It's just a short flight to Ecruteak. I would take you there every day myself or we'll work something out."

"It's not that simple," Morty lowered his eyes again.

Of course it wasn't. He had known that it could never be. Yet, he had gone and opened his mouth, blurting out things that he shouldn't have. Sighing, he stood and picked up his bowl, going to his room.

"You should sleep out here tonight," he said softly, without turning back.

"Hayato, I'm…please don't hate me…"

That pleading tone made Falkner pause as his heart started to ache. He turned slowly and shook his head, trying to force a smile.

"I could never," he answered truthfully. "I just don't want to set myself up to fall in love with you any more than I already have, since I know that you're going to break my heart…"

AN: Well, this went differently than I had planned. Originally, I was like, ok, they'll do it this chapter! But I think the way things went works better. The sex will happen eventually. I just blame Falkner. He's the one holding up progress. Also thanks to everyone who reviewed and all that for this story. Soons I figure out more, I'll reply t those? Can you?


	8. Chapter 8

"Don't you even start crying," the voice in his head sounded quite a bit like his mother, which made sense, as she was often the one to say those words during his childhood days. Usually, it was after he had done something that she would make him regret with terrible pain.

No one was going to beat him for this- well, perhaps Eusine would when he found out that Morty had been playing house with Falkner here. For now, though, there was only Morty in the living room, staring at the door to Falkner's bedroom and hoping beyond hope that the blunette would return to say that everything was alright.

Of course, it wasn't. He had gone and opened his mouth, thus ruining everything. Things would have been fine if he hadn't gone and been such a crying brat over Janine. Really, what right had he to get jealous in the first place, when he was clinging to Eusine the way that he did? Here, he had a man that obviously loved him and was willing to care for him. The smart thing to do would have been to let go of the one who abused him. Then he would be free to continue living the life here that he had undeniably come to love. But no, he just had to be…

"Stupid," Morty sighed and nodded at the table. It was as if someone had asked him a question to which the answer was, "Hey, did you just fuck up everything?" He just kept on nodding while staring at the wooden surface, though, at length, he realized how crazy he must have looked sitting there doing this.

He heaved again and flopped backwards, throwing his arm over his eyes to hide the tears that he had been trying to do deny himself—the very ones that he didn't feel like he deserved. It seemed that this was all he did lately. He made people angry with him and then he cried about it as though he had any right. Why anyone bothered with him, he did not know. He asked himself why Falkner couldn't love someone more deserving instead of the nuisance he saw himself to be. The only way he would know for sure would be to ask, but then, he was no longer invited into the other's bedroom, now was he? He would go back to sleeping alone, all because he didn't know how to keep his mouth shut instead of asking for more, more, and more.

As he lay there mentally berating himself, he felt his body temperature lower and then a tug on his scarf. Unveiling his eyes, he looked into his Gengar's crimson gaze, finding it filled with worry. Great—now he had gone and upset all of the Pokemon. The Ghastlies and Mismagius were all floating around, giving him a look that seemed to ask "What happened?" Even Hoothoot was back, and to his surprise, the owl perched on Morty's chest and cocked his head.

"None of you have to worry about this," he released a long, slow breath. "Especially not you, Hoothoot. I'm ruining your master's life."

"Hoo," the bird spoke softly. Something about his tone seemed to be saying no to what Morty had said. It was endearing, but he couldn't take the advice of a bird Pokemon. The blonde knew when he had fucked up royally. Both hands rubbed over his face, pushing the head band off and onto the cushions behind him. "In the morning, I'll just go after he leaves for the gym. I don't want to stress him out any more than I have already."

"Hoo," now the bird sounded sad.

Morty could just add another chalk mark under the column of beings he had let down. It was a sad day when you disappointed an owl. Gosh, he was on a roll.

"I just wanna sleep now…"

Hoothoot didn't seem as though he had any plans to leave, and so Morty put his arms around the bird and cuddled him close as he closed his eyes. Depression had hit him so many times that it was easy to fall asleep. The bird was just a small amount of comfort because it belonged to someone he loved. Still, it wasn't the same.

Somewhere near three in the morning, he awakened to find himself in the dark. The Ghastlies were all hiding so that their light didn't disturb him, but his Gengars were close, watching him with their big red eyes. Mismagius was on top of the youngest Gengar's head and Sableeye was curled up next to Morty. He had no idea where the others were, but he guessed they were outside with the Pidgeot that Falkner had never returned. That left Hoothoot, who was still in Morty's arms.

"Hoo?"

Morty bit his lip and closed his eyes as hot salt water ran from them. Just when he thought he couldn't go any further into the realm of the pathetic, he reached a new low. Even though he was the one doing it, he really couldn't believe himself—that he was crying right now because he wanted Falkner. This had gotten beyond ridiculous. How many times had he warned himself against the cuddling, the holding hands, and the sleeping next to each other? Now he was attached, possibly beyond hope. He had forgotten how to sleep alone. He was in trouble.

It was ironic, really. **Now** he was sure of what he wanted, and it was not to be found in Ecruteak. This moment made him realize that he was tired of sleeping alone when he had a so called lover. He was tired of someone who only came to see him when he wanted to fuck and only showed him a small amount of love because he had been made jealous. Why should he want someone who had been forcing himself on him since they were kids? Why should he give up a chance at real love for the empty words of someone who said them while beating him?

Morty wanted Falkner. He loved him, but it was too late, wasn't it? The blunette couldn't trust him to not go running to Eusine, and even though the blonde felt sure of what he wanted, there was still that nagging bit of self-doubt within. He was too weak and easily swayed. Years ago, Eusine had firmly dug his claws into Morty so that there was no way to be completely free without painfully tearing away. The blonde didn't feel as though he could do it on his own, and tonight, he had shunned away the one person who would help him. There was nothing else to do but to wait for the morning.

The night was long for Morty, who spent much of it doing more tossing and turning than sleeping. Eventually, poor Hoothoot got tired of dealing with it and flew off to his perch to sleep there. For that, the blonde man couldn't blame the owl. At least he had tried to offer comfort. The thought would always count.

As the first rays of light peeked in through the windows of Falkner's house, the bedroom door opened and out came the yawning gym leader. Not a glance was given towards the cushions. Instead, Falkner went right into the bathroom and shut the door, the sound of the shower running following shortly thereafter.

The longest part of the young man's routine seemed to be getting dressed. After the shower, he went right back into his room without a word, and was he was in there for quite a while before finally coming out again. There were a few noises being made in the kitchen and then the white tabi came into Morty's line of vision. Still, not a word was said to him. The blonde looked up to see if Falkner had even a glance to spare him and found that the blunette had none. There was two pieces of toast hanging from his mouth as the flying gym leader held out his arm to his owl Pokemon, who hopped from his perch onto the leather bracer with ease. Then Falkner was gone, leaving Morty to wonder if perhaps a long ago wish to become invisible had finally come true.

"Well," he sighed to no one in particular, though all of his Pokemon were staring at him from one location or another, some of them through the windows outside.

As he stood and started to stuff his belongings into the suitcase that the ghosts had brought him, Morty mused that his Pokemon looked too much like children whose parents were divorcing. They were even seeking each other for comfort, he noticed as his Dusknoir was cuddling his Sableeye.

"C-come on, guys," standing with the suitcase in hand, he looked over the pitiful bunch and found himself smiling, albeit sadly. "Does it even matter to you who I'm dating?"

It was actually a rather insulting question. Of course it mattered to them, or else they wouldn't have gone through the trouble that they had, which was obviously geared towards keeping him with Falkner.

"You all think he's perfect for me, huh? And that I should stay with him instead of going back to Ecruteak and to Eusine?"

At that moment, a more enthusiastic bunch could not be found. Sighing, the group's master dropped his eyes to his feet and started for the door.

"I hate letting you all down, but you all can't understand. For the life of me, I don't know why any of you think so highly of me, 'specially you, Gengar."

Chuckling a bit, he stopped and turned his gaze to the senior of the Gengars.

"You've stayed with me for so long, even though our friendship started with you throwing stuff at me."

"Gengar," the Pokemon replied, looking directly at Morty. Though he was smiling, it was obvious that the Gengar was not happy.

"Yea, let's go home."

The Pokemon were given no further say in the matter, which was not surprising. Even the greatest of trainers often underestimated just how much their Pokemon understood and how truly insightful they could be. Morty's Pokemon, if they could speak beyond saying their names, would be telling him that he was making a big mistake in walking away from Falkner's home and Violet City. Unfortunately, all they could do was follow as Morty stepped onto Drifblim and floated away.

From atop the purple ghost balloon, the world looked different. Everything was smaller, and it all reminded him of what he was leaving behind. Still, he found himself smiling as he stepped down from his trusted Pokemon onto the ground near his home. The flight hadn't taken that long, and so the city was quiet, with most if not all of its inhabitants fast asleep. Drops of dew clung to the leaves of the trees and blades of grass, while the early morning air was nippy, with a breeze that subtly promised a cold winter to come. Morty breathed in the scents of the city that had been his home for the last eight years and sighed. Violet City smelled like fresh water and flowers. The air here smelled like autumn leaves and mist.

The blonde shrugged as he let himself into his home. His front door was unlocked but that was alright. No one here would ever steal from him, even if he had something worth taking. He found his home just as he had left it, though there were a couple pairs of balled up socks lying here and there. Those, he knew had to have been dropped by his Pokemon on their way out.

Well, here he was—home sweet home—though he didn't know what to do with himself. Later on, he could go down to the gym, but for now, there wasn't much to do but loaf. He started for his couch and had his butt hovering in the air above it when a noise coming from the kitchen caused him to straighten himself as he whipped his head in that direction. It couldn't be. Morty's heart was now lodged firmly in his throat, it seemed, and it would not budge, no matter how hard or frequently he swallowed. His knees felt weak and his head was spinning like the wheel on that gameshow his mother used to watch.

"Eu-Eusine," he called out.

The sinking of his heart into a pit that had opened in his stomach made the blonde realize that Eusine was the last person he wanted to see right now. Really, he had hoped to be left alone to sort through his feelings for today and then bury it all by going back to his usual routine. The Suicune fetishist had said months. It hadn't even been one. What was he doing here?

Tentatively, he stepped towards the kitchen, only to pause and give a great gasp as the unexpected visitor came out to greet him. For quite a few moments, his brain just couldn't register what he was seeing—the blue and white haori, the blue uwagi, that handsome face, and those eyes. Both were uncovered just now, as the royal blue hair was being pushed back by long fingers. Morty looked into the blue eye and the golden one as tears came to his own. Then, before he could stop himself, he rushed into Falkner's arms and pushed his lips against the other's.

Nothing could stop his tears, even being embraced tightly as he accepted the blunette's tongue into his mouth. Closing his eyes as they ran, Morty tilted his head and let his own tongue wrestle with the other warm muscle. Soon, his was pinned down and caressed, both on top and under. Then it was tossed about with circular motions from Falkner's tongue. Finally, when Morty felt that the lack of oxygen would shut down his brain, the one that he loved let him free.

"Hayato," he whispered.

"I didn't think you would cry at the sight of me," ever cool, Falkner smirked as he licked a trail of tears up to Morty's eye and then kissed the lid as it instinctively slipped shut.

"I didn't expect you, and I was just so happy," Morty answered in a still weakened voice. "You came all of this way just for me? What about your gym battles?"

The blunette smiled, "Took the day off just for you too. Come here."

Falkner took Morty's hand and led him over to the couch, where both sat. With their fingers entwined, the flying trainer leaned forward to kiss Morty's forehead. Then their eyes met and for a few moments, there was a sweet silence between them.

"I had the feeling you would try to go back today, and really, I was willing to let you last night," the other confessed at length. "But then in the middle of the night, it hit me pretty hard."

Morty bit his lip and nodded. He wanted to say that pretty much the same thing had happened to him. Yet, he did not want to interrupt what was being said now because, for once in his life, he had the feeling that happiness was about to find him.

"I love you, Morty," the blunette went on softly. "I was sure that I did when I kissed you that night, but I had no idea how deep that feeling could come to run. The thing is… I have thought to myself for years that for the sake of us being friends, I wouldn't tell you how I felt because I feared being hurt and ruining what we did have. Even last night, I walked away from you because of fear, but Morty..."

Pausing, Falkner took the blonde's chin to be sure that their eyes would continue to meet. Morty realized that now his breaths were faster and his heart was racing. The blunette had done the right thing in demanding that they sit because the taller gym leader's knees were currently too weak to stand, so much so that he would have dropped right to the floor during all of this.

"Yes?" Was all that he could manage to say, and instantly, he felt lame for the one word reply to such a confession.

"I won't let you go without a fight. The way I see it now, I have from this moment until the bastard returns to make you love me enough to say your last goodbye to Eusine."

"Oh Hayato," Morty sighed. "If we stay just friends, then I can't break your heart."

"Perhaps," Falkner shrugged. "But if we were to stay friends, I wouldn't be free to share my deepest love with you. But if you told me right now that you were willing to take it, I'd gladly give you my heart."

"I want it," Morty confessed with glistening eyes. To keep himself from crying, he laughed a little. "I sure as hell don't know why you're giving it to me of all people. Kind of a sucky trade since all you get in return is my heart."

"That's all I need."

At that moment, Morty remembered the ride on the ferris wheel and how his heart had flown away from him when Eusine had declared his love. He had that feeling now, but guilt was threatening to kill it. Those claws of his friend were in deeper than he'd imagined, but he realized that he at least had someone to love him through the pain of breaking away.

"Tell me what it is," his new boyfriend insisted.

Now Morty hid his eyes under the guise of picking up a pair of socks from the floor. "It is what it always is. I know I want this, I just don't know what to say to him."

"You don't owe him anything, you know—least of all, an explanation."

"I'm all that he has," Morty sighed and now turned his eyes to Falkner. "I know I'm a lot of baggage because of him, but loving me comes with all of that. I can't completely turn my back on him, but I swear to you that I will make it clear to him that friends is all we'll be. I won't have sex with him anymore or anything."

"And you won't let him force you?" Falkner's tone was a bit too firm to be a question, but his eyes were gentle and full of worry. This led Morty into sighing as he asked himself if he really had the heart to drag the young man into this mess.

"I love you so much that I don't want to be your heartbreak. I… I'm scared of him, but it will be fine. I won't let myself be anywhere alone with him and… it should be fine…"

"How could you have loved someone like that?" The blunette's eyes narrowed sharply and his lip tucked in for just a moment. He was disturbed, and Morty really couldn't blame him. "You don't even trust him not to rape you."

Morty lowered his eyes again, "I'm partly to blame, you know. I've never put my foot down, so I can't say how he will take it when I do it now. All I know is that I want to. I'm tired of being his whore. I want to be yours."

He could sense Falkner raising his brow. His cheeks flushed and he quickly raised his eyes, shaking his head.

"I mean your boyfriend. Not a whore."

"I know," the blunette smirked.

"So…" blushing furiously, Morty lowered his eyes into his lap again, but he at least had a small chuckle to spare for the goof he'd made just now.

"We'll just deal with everything as it happens, ok?" Falkner said softly. "I want to be happy with you right now. Not sit here worrying about Eusine."

"Well, we're boyfriends now, anyway," Morty felt a little giggly at that, oddly. Surely, a slap was in order. Instead, he looked up again into the smiling face of his boyfriend. "What should we do now?"

"I suppose we should kiss to break the tension," the other smirked.

Morty chuckled softly as his head moved of its own volition towards Falkner's. Their lips met, brushing against each other's, and the blunette cupped the blonde's cheek tenderly as he tilted his head for a deeper exchange. Their bodies moved closer on the couch, but this was not enough for them. Both went to their knees and pressed together as Morty put his arms around Falkner's waist.

At that moment, he had the thought of what would happen if someone walked in. But then the taste and sensation of Falkner's tongue against his caused him to abandon that concern. Many nights had gone by where he had slept next to the very body that was pressed against his now. He had listened to him mumble and sigh, and he'd experienced a range of emotions, lust always being one of them.

Now he couldn't stop himself from pushing the younger man backwards, towards the couch. In order to comply, Falkner sat again and then easily gave in to the forced laying position. Really, he seemed to be barely paying attention to what Morty was doing in favor of kissing him. His drawbacks for air were very short and he had nothing to say in those moments. He would simply take a few breaths, tilt his head again, and return to devouring his lover's mouth, forcing the ghost trainer's tongue to submit. But now that Morty lay on top of him, both started to moan as the blonde began to grind their crotches together. Falkner's hands slid along Morty's back and grabbed his ass, pulling the body atop his own to himself as he started to move back.

"This feels pretty nice," he panted once he let go of their kiss in order to breathe.

"You don't feel rushed, do you?" Morty flushed just a little. Still, neither stopped rubbing their now obvious hardons against the other.

"It's happening fast, I admit, but…"

"But," the blonde prompted when the sentence wasn't finished. To be sure that the other wasn't distracted, he ceased all movements and looked into his mismatched eyes.

"I don't know. I'm confused," Falkner flushed.

To find the younger man embarrassed and unsure was new to Morty, but he found it endearing and he was happy that the other trusted him enough to admit it.

"Hey," he said softly as he caressed Falkner's face. "If you're not ready for sex yet…"

"I'm sorry…" Morty had never recalled a time where the blunette had hidden his gaze from him, but now he was doing so with bright red cheeks. "I got nervous. I've never had sex before and I don't really… I mean, you know what you're doing and…"

Dear god, it was just so cute. Morty covered the other's face in tender kisses and then tilted up his chin, forcing their eyes to meet. Then he kissed Falkner sweetly, as though this one action could take away every worry he'd ever had.

"You don't have to impress me," he purred. "I tell you what, though. For now, just lay here and let me make you feel good, ok?"

Falkner nodded his consent and swallowed several times, causing his adam's apple to visibly bob. It was so incredibly endearing that Morty couldn't help but chuckle as he leaned forward to kiss his forehead. Then he started to undo the hakama.

"Just relax, ok? After all you've done for me, I want to do this for you."

Morty actually had to go through two pairs of pants before he even got to Falkner's boxers. Once there, though, he rubbed his hand over the cloth covered hardon, drawing a loud moan from the younger one. Smirking, Morty continued to gently rub him as he leaned forward to kiss him again.

"Feeling good yet?" Purring, he sat up and watched as the other man shut his eyes. Oh yes, he was definitely feeling good. There was no need for a verbal answer. "Good, because there's more…"

(**AN: **Go ahead and throw an egg at me for ending it there. Just that it was getting lengthy and I wasn't sure I could wrap the scene up in only a few hundred more words. Plus, these two kind of took over and did what they wanted. Morty's got a mind of his own and just won't get over Eusine. GOD!)


	9. Chapter 9

Everything was fine for Falkner until Morty had stopped and asked him if he felt rushed. That moment brought the events into perspective, and he realized that this was really happening. If he didn't protest, he was going to lose his virginity right here and now. He really had no problems with it, as he especially wanted the man before him to be his first—he'd wanted that since hitting puberty, honestly. But the issue was exactly as he had confessed to his new boyfriend. The young virgin had gotten nervous.

Whether subconsciously done or not, the new lover would be compared to the old, which shouldn't have been a problem. Falkner was confident that, in other cases, he would have come out on top. When it came to sex, however, he knew that he was going to have to measure up to Eusine in more ways than one. It just wasn't possible to excel in something he'd never done.

What he didn't tell Morty was that he had actually started to feel a little sick. It was odd for him, really. When it came to new challenges, he was usually able to keep it together and meet them head on with enthusiasm. But this was different in a way that he couldn't put to words.

But Morty, oh he had been so sweet and had soothed away his nervousness with ease. He had offered to make his young lover feel good, and it was definitely working. Now there was a promise of more. Falkner could only stare at him with expectant eyes as he waited to see what this could possibly be.

Morty loved that sweet, innocent look on the boy's face. It was surprising to see it on the bird tamer, really, as he had always come across as so knowledgeable and experienced. The Ghost Trainer called it the Violet City effect. Most of the citizens there were older and highly traditional. It made the children wise beyond their years and matured before their time. Falkner was one such child.

He did pick the oddest times to get sentimental. How odd it was to remember, at the moment he was rubbing the young man's dick, how he had met him as a twelve year old with the biggest, sweetest… eye. Even back then, Falkner went out of his way to keep the other eye hidden, though he wore his hair a little longer now than he did back then. It was a little darker of a blue these days, Morty noted as well. Leave it to him to notice odd things like that.

The point is, even back in those days, Falkner had a tendency to seem wise and experienced for his age—as though he had an old man's soul in a youngster's body. He had gone on and on about his father, at first, but once he'd pulled Morty into his gym and started talking gym leader talk, he didn't seem much like an innocent twelve year old anymore. Having spent the last six years watching him grow up, it was endearing to Morty to see that innocence still remained here, and it warmed his heart to know that he would be the one to whom it was all entrusted.

"I'll take care of you," Morty whispered. "When your first time does happen, it will be a good memory, if you want it to be with me."

"I do," Falkner nodded as he looked up at him. "All I've ever wanted, since I was that little brat that pulled you by the hand all over my gym, was to be with you."

"Hey, you were never a brat," Morty stopped everything now to rub his face against his lover's. "You were way smarter at 12 than I was at 13, for certain. I still don't think I'm good enough for you."

"We're going to have this moment with your hand down my pants," Falkner couldn't help but snort at this. Morty's hand was resting right on the head of his cock, and as much as he enjoyed this moment of heart felt confession, he did want it to keep rubbing him.

"I'm sorry, darling," Morty laughed a little and resumed.

"It's quite alright," his cheeks flushing, Falkner closed his eyes and threw one of his legs over the back of the couch while Morty started to caress the thigh of the other.

At this near perfect moment, when he had Falkner with his legs splayed out before him, Eusine just had to come to Morty's mind, mostly because the blonde was remembering his own first time now. He could still feel Eusine's hot breath on his neck and hear the things he'd said.

"_Stop crying. It's almost over. GOD!"_

His hand tightened on the blunette's thigh, causing him to whimper a bit. Panic gripped Morty's heart then—dear god, had he hurt him? That would just beat all, wouldn't it? He'd never be able to say a word against Eusine again without being a hypocrite.

But to his relief, there was pleasure all over that handsome face. Obviously then, he had **liked** it. Falkner did have pretty well toned thighs, so of course he wouldn't be that easy to hurt. Just to be sure, Morty squeezed again and nearly came all over himself at the noise that his boyfriend made—something like a squeak, followed by a breathless whine.

"Nnngh, Hayato. When the time comes, I want to fuck you."

"Really?" Opening his eyes, the blunette stared at Morty as best as he could under the circumstances.

The blonde had figured him out quite right. His thighs were definitely a sensitive place for him. He had no idea why it did it for him, but whenever he got up to masturbating—which was actually quite rare—he liked to tease himself by rubbing both hands over his thighs. The human body is a strange thing, after all.

With this in mind, one could imagine why it was hard for him to concentrate now that Morty's hand was working the muscles there like he was preparing dough for bread. Still, there was enough focus left for a very important question to be asked.

"You mean you want to be the one to put your…um… in my… yea…?" He blushed and wanted to kick himself for being so awkward. Maybe he should have at least tried to have sex with a girl so that he would behave a lot less like a teenager having sex for the first time.

"If you don't want to…" Morty trailed off. It was actually quite a sudden idea for him, but the more he thought on it, the more he was sure that he wanted to be the one to top. Eusine had never let him even try it, so the sex between him and Falkner would be a new experience for them both.

The blunette reached for Morty's wrist to stop him for a moment. He really needed to think on this, since it now involved something going inside of his body- something that was definitely going to hurt, at that.

"Well, I never really thought about how it would go…"

But if he let Morty top him, it would take away the pressure of trying to out-perform Eusine in bed, wouldn't it? Plus, he had to admit that the thought of Morty inside of him was actually starting to turn him on more than he had been for as long as he could remember. And just look at him now. He had his legs thrown open as if he was already asking for it. He closed his eyes and pictured Morty on top of him, huffing and sweating as his cock pumped in and out of him. That caused arousal to shoot all through him to the point that it made him arch his back and moan a little.

"H-Hayato?" Morty sounded worried now. He probably should have been. This lustful behavior was so unlike him.

He didn't know what to say, and so he pushed Morty's hand lower, past his balls, and near that hole that was never meant to be an entrance. But he was asking his lover to make it into one now by looking up at him with mismatched eyes full of lust.

"Hayato," Morty purred as he stroked his finger over the outer ring of muscle. "I'll be so gentle with you. I swear I won't hurt you like Eusine did to me. I swear."

Falkner huffed and closed his eyes, "Can we not talk about him right now?"

It sounded bitchy to him, and for that, he was sorry. Still, the **last** name he wanted to hear was Eusine's in the moment that he was about to give himself away—to trust himself to someone in a manner that he would trust no one else. As selfish as it may have been, he wanted his boyfriend's ex out of sight and out of mind.

Morty bit his lip, wondering if he had fucked up the moment by talking too much. Apparently, he was good at that.

"I'm sorry," he said gently to test the waters.

"I'm sorry too," Falkner smiled apologetically. "I want to give myself to you completely, but before I do, I need to know that you aren't going to… to fuck me and throw me away."

It was a legitimate concern, especially with Eusine's presence somehow lingering and managing to tarnish otherwise perfect moments in Morty's life without him. That green-eyed monster just wouldn't be forgotten, would he? Fearing his power, the blonde wondered if backing away from Falkner completely was what was best for everyone. The blunette had said that he wouldn't give up without a fight, but that was before he knew where Morty wanted his dick to go. He didn't want to end up a used whore, rightfully so.

"If you can't even say it…" Falkner pulled his leg down from the back rest of the couch and sat up to start redoing his clothes.

One thing he demanded was respect, and as much as he wanted sex with Morty, he was not going to lay there and let it happen without knowing that he wouldn't be tossed aside when Eusine returned. He would be no one's plaything.

"I keep screwing things up with you," Morty sighed.

"Just the sex part," Falkner shrugged and stood to tie his obi. "I'll stay a virgin until the man I'm meant to be with claims me. At this point, it's up to you to decide if that man's going to be you or not."

"I wish it was easy to just throw Eusine completely out of my life, but I'm not sure I can resist him," the blonde slumped on his couch. "Right now, I'm disgusted by him. He came to mind because I thought of my first time and how I wanted yours to be better."

"So you weren't… I don't know…" Falkner suddenly felt a little silly. His face turned a bit hot as he showed Morty his back. "I wanted this moment without him in it. I wanted you to make love to me and not think of him. I know I sound whiny…"

"You know, it's perfectly alright to be scared, nervous, or insecure about things, Hayato," Morty cut in. "How can you live under the pressure you must put yourself under? Do you take a look at every moment of your life and evaluate whether or not you were cool and flawless?"

To that, the blunette didn't know what to say. He did pressure himself quite a bit, as he was always trying to live up to his father's reputation. Every moment of his life did fall under such careful scrutiny. It was to the point that he barely even noticed himself doing it.

"I know I'm the last person to be telling someone how to live," Morty went on. "But it seems like you have more sympathy for me than you can spare for yourself. It's not right."

"Says the person who is always putting himself down," Falkner softly replied.

"Well, I guess it's true that it takes one to know one."

Falkner returned to the couch and flopped down with a huff, "So we both have issues to work on. Still, I'd like to look at the matter on hand. Not giving it up to someone who's in love with someone else."

"I respect that, I really do." Morty dared to move closer to pull Falkner into his arms. Only when he realized that the other had no protests against this gesture, did he find the heart to go on. Sighing softly, he laid back with his boyfriend against him. "We made a lot of memories, and one of them happened to be me sobbing and praying that it would be over soon the first time I ever had sex. I didn't even know what I agreed to. He just said what we were going to do would feel good. It didn't."

"I'm… I'm…"

Morty pressed a finger to Falkner's lips to silence him. "I don't want you to say that—to apologize for something you didn't do or know about. Listen, I admire you for standing your ground and saying no. It makes me want to try harder to be that man who gets to have you."

"Why would you," the blunette smiled a little. "I'm obviously a tease. This makes twice in one day."

"You're uncertain," Morty argued in an uncharacteristically firm tone. "Remember, it's ok for you to be. "

Falkner sighed as he pressed a hand to his face. Was he making this too difficult? He knew what he wanted, and hadn't he said he was going to fight for it? Why the apprehension, then? He should take what he had waited so long for.

Clearing his throat, he sat up and turned to straddle Morty. It was sudden, bringing first a curious look to the blonde's face, followed by shock as the bird tamer began to undo his lover's pants.

For a few moments, all Morty could do was blink and ask himself if this was really happening. He was also too scared to say anything because it might bring Falkner back around to his senses. So far, the blunette seemed far more certain than he had been. He seemed quite ok with sticking his hand right into Morty's underwear and stroking the hard on.

"Your touch is so sweet," Morty just had to risk words in order to say that. The hand on his length was soft, but the grip was firm in a masculine way.

"Let's go to your room. I know it sounds picky. I just don't want it on the floor or the couch."

Again, Morty could only blink and wonder when all of this had turned around. Well, he knew better than to question it, since talking too much had caused him enough grief. Nodding, he sat up and shifted so that he could take Falkner into his arms. Then he carried him to that bedroom bridal style and laid him down on the bed with the already disheveled blankets.

Falkner hooked his arms around Morty's neck and pulled him to kiss him. Then he started to lie back, and when they broke for air, he looked up at the other and nodded.

"I should get something." Leaning forward, Morty brushed his lips along the other's cheek before leaving the bed altogether.

Curious, the blunette sat up and watched as the blonde rummaged around in his closet. A short while later, he returned with a tube of something and climbed back into bed.

"Lube," Morty explained, seeing the inquisitive glance. After twisting off the cap, he broke the seal and replaced the cap again. Yes, it had never been used because Eusine had stopped caring to bother with it long ago. Morty opened his mouth to explain all of that, but wisely decided to shut up with the "E" word. Instead, he started trying to figure out how to get off Falkner's clothes.

"Confusing, right?" the younger man laughed as he watched his lover stare at his attire.

"That's one word out of several that came to mind," Morty laughed a little. "Can you? I'll just take off my own."

"Well, I'm not going to do this for you every time, so watch!"

Falkner smiled just a little and then turned his attention to his clothes. First went the obi, which he untied with very little effort. Then he sat up to throw off his haori and parted the uwagi. Then he kicked off his shoes and undid his tabi. Those were removed and then went his two pairs of pants.

"All of that…" It was unbelievable to finally see Falkner's body. The young man was toned in a way that made it almost shameful to be so covered up. Wanting to feel all of this, the blonde reached out and started to stroke his arms, his chest, and his sides. Then he started to kiss a trail down the center of his chest, towards his crotch.

"My stomach has butterflies," Falkner shivered. Wanting to move things along, he grabbed the hem of Morty's sweater in both hands and pulled upwards, causing the blonde to have to pause in his kisses just at the blunette's waist line so that the garment could be pulled over his head.

"Hayato," putting his lips close to the other's ears once the shirt was removed, he whispered softly. "It's going to be amazing inside of you. I can already tell."

"Oh, Morty, I feel so excited. It's so not like me!"

His hands roamed all over the other's bare skin, wanting to touch him in ways that he had only done in his naughtiest of dreams. Lust pulsed through his veins, making his loins throb almost painfully and his toes curl. He couldn't wait much longer. Falkner's body wanted Morty inside of it.

"Shh," the blonde whispered. Never had he seen the other so worked up. To know that he was the cause of it turned him on in ways that he couldn't describe.

Sitting up again, he found the lube and coated his fingers in it. Then he slid backwards, closing his eyes as he slowly licked Falkner's dick from base to tip, being careful to avoid the straight blue hairs that grew down there. The recipient moaned and tried to arch up, but Morty held him in place with a firm hand on his thigh, squeezing to pleasure him there as well. This earned a loud gasp and a moan. Chuckling, Morty sucked the head into his mouth while his index finger gently prodded the virginal entrance.

"Oh, Morty," Falkner cried. "I feel so bad. Make me feel bad. I like it!"

He was already hard enough, but the blonde would swear that those words made his dick fight even harder against the pants that restrained it. As much as he wanted them off, he was trying to play it careful. The temptation to just stick his dick in Falkner and be done was a bit too great. He wouldn't gamble with his self-control or lack thereof. This had to be perfect.

Pressing his tongue against the eye of the other's cock, he tasted hot salty fluid as he worked that finger inside. Immediately, the muscles clenched tightly, but Morty endeavored to get the body below him used to penetration. Slowly, he fucked the blunette with his finger, wishing that it was his cock instead. Damn lucky finger.

"Hnngh, Morty, it burns…" That was not quite what Falkner had expected at all. What was happened between his legs was pleasurable, but further down, he was in pain.

"Let me try it with more lube, ok?" His lover answered in a gentle tone.

Falkner loved how patient Morty was being with him through all of this. Definitely, there was no backing out of the sex now—not after saying no twice and now being in need of such gentle handling.

There was a squirting sound and then the blunette felt something warm and viscous against his opening. The finger inside of him began to push this in, and soon, he was sufficiently coated. The intrusion became more pleasurable, and Falkner began to move his body to meet the thrusting of the finger.

Soon, Morty worked in a second and thrust them as well while alternating between scissoring them apart. By the time that experience became pleasurable, Falkner was sure of what he wanted and so was Morty. The blunette was quite vocal, which was a bit surprising, considering how quiet he normally was. Beggars can't be choosers, however, and it couldn't be said that the ghost trainer minded hearing all of that noise. If anything, it encouraged him by letting him know he was doing something right.

All of it got him so worked up that he didn't even bother to take off his pants before coating his dick in lube and pressing it at the other man's entrance. Falkner, by instinct, went very still and gasped in obvious pain at the intrusion of something that fingers couldn't quite emulate.

"Shhh," Morty whispered into his ear and then began to lick inside of it. The body beneath his trembled and moved him into taking his lover into his arms and holding him. "We can stop the moment you say so."

"N-no," the blunette shook his head. He was hurting, but he wanted this. The pain would fade if he could just hold on.

"Well, you're not a virgin anymore," Morty tried lightening the mood.

"F-finally," the younger of the two smiled just a bit. It was getting so hot in that room, likely because his body heat wasn't being allowed to escape. Instead, it was mingling with his lover's as they were pressed skin to skin and joined below the waist. "Is it all the way in yet?"

"Just the head," the blonde answered with a slight sigh. "I should have tried to stretch you more."

"It's ok, just put it all in, ok? We'll be all night this way."

The blonde nervously bit his lip for a moment, as he stared into Falkner's eyes. In turn, the blunette's eyes seem to say "Do it, fag". It was incredibly sexy to see. Even as the one on bottom, Falkner clearly wore the pants. Still, it hurt Morty to hear that gasp of pain and to see his lover's eye squeeze shut. Unable to help himself, he moaned loudly as all of his length forced the once virginal hole to accept it.

"You're too tight for your own good, you know," he panted. "I feel bad that this feels good while you're hurt."

"Who even said that I didn't like that it hurt?" Falkner fired back, his voice a bit quieter than normal. Being roughly penetrated like that had hurt like the devil, he couldn't lie. But now that his lover was all of the way inside, he was excited again. The pain wouldn't last, he knew it. "Just call it a trade for how much pain I caused when I set your wrist."

"My wrist," Morty repeated with a soft moan. "About that… I can move my fingers again."

"You have the weirdest during sex conversation topics, you know," Falkner smirked at him. Truthfully, he appreciated it, though. The playful banter was distracting him from the pain of having a dick in him for the first time. Speaking of that, "I think you can start doing it to me now. Don't know if you were waiting for something special before you started."

"Wow, when did you become such a smart mouth?" Not waiting for an answer, Morty sighed with pleasure as he pulled back and gently thrust forward into the hot tightness that was his lover's body. "You alright, smart butt?"

"Starting to feel good already," Falkner smiled just a little before closing his eyes. There was still a slight amount of discomfort, but it was accompanied by a pleasure that grew with each thrust into his body. Pushing a hand between them, the blunette grabbed for his dick and started to pump it in the rhythm of the thrusts.

"Want me to do it for you," Morty asked in a voice shaking with pleasure. Never had he felt such tightness and warmth around his cock. It took everything in him not to jackhammer away.

The blunette shook his head, "You're half crippled. Ha."

Rolling his eyes, Morty dared to go just a little harder and to deepen his thrusts. The response was a loud moan, followed by panting as the hips below him started to move in time.

"H-Hayato," the blonde moaned. "Actually, you're supposed to be screaming **my** name."

Rolling his eyes, the blunette moaned as he moved against Morty, trying to pull him in deeper. Even his best masturbation session hadn't managed to feel this good. Then again, something had been missing all of those times, hadn't it? Right now, he felt as though he were floating naked on some sort of cloud of pleasure. That was the best analogy that would come to his mind, anyway. His toes were curling and his entire body was tense. But then all of it stopped.

"Hey, what the-"he started to complain as Morty pulled out and moved over him.

"I just wanted to try one thing, alright?" The blonde said in a soft, pleading tone. Smirking a bit, he ran his head down the other's stomach, causing him to arch his back.

"Teasing me?" The blunette bit out bitterly.

"No, just this," Morty continued smirking as he moved down towards Falkner's crotch to lick his head.

"T-the things you do…" Both hands reached for Morty's hair, but before he could get a grip, the blonde was sitting up again. Feeling tortured, the bird trainer glared at his lover with eyes that demanded this to get to a point.

"I promised you an amazing experience, didn't I?"

Not sure what was meant by that, Falkner shook his head, but then watched as Morty took off his pants and then began to lower himself down onto the younger man's dick. Now that was not what he expected at all—to suddenly feel himself inside of Morty after things had been going the other way around. Oh god, he liked this too! As his lover bounced up and down on him, he reached for his hips to feel their motion and moaned loudly, tilting his head back.

"M-Morty, you j-just… I can't…" Whatever he was going to say, he was cut off by the orgasm that he couldn't hold back. Even though firing off load after load inside of his lover felt amazing, there was guilt. He wasn't supposed to finish so soon, was he? "I-I'm sorry…"

But the blonde had nothing but a love smile for his flush-faced lover as he reached out to stroke his cheeks. "This wasn't about me. It was about you. I know how to finish myself, and it definitely won't be hard with you in front of me."

"Hm, well," Falkner started to rub his hand through his blue hair, not really knowing what he had meant to say there. Gradually, it came to him, though, and instead of speaking; he reached out for Morty's dick and began to slowly stroke it.

"I'm fine with this," Morty moaned, rolling his head back on his neck.

There was not much to be said after that. Knowing how much it worked when he self-serviced, the blunette worked his thumb over the eye of Morty's dick on each upward stroke and on the underside of the head on before sliding back down. Moaning loudly, Morty shifted back and forth along Falkner's body as though he were riding him and then tensed in spot as he began to shoot cum onto the other's hand and all over his stomach.

"Exhausted," the blonde panicked as he flopped down on the bed next to his lover and then snuggled next to him.

"Nap time now, yes?" the blunette chuckled.

"Oh yes. After sex, the only thing I want to do is sleep next to someone who is totally cuddly and smells nice!"

((AN: Morty is never going to shut up about Falkner being cuddly and smelling nice. Also, they ALMOST didn't do it this chapter. Falkner's stubbornness and Morty's not being able to get the hell over Eusine ruins things a lot. But Eusine is Eusine. You don't just get the hell over Eusine. Not without a lot of therapy or something. But yay, it finally happened and this is my longest update yet 3 Thanks to everyone who reviews this and stuff. I see those, I just never reply because life is something I fail at, but yay! *There was a huge goof in this chapter. T hanks to Geebrowtar for pointing it out. 333))


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